One Shot at Love
by MistressArafaxdeep
Summary: In a political bargain, Temari ends up married to Itachi. At first Temari avoids him, but in the end she comes around. Their relationship blossoms, but where will it take them? ItachiXTemari primary, GaaraXSakura secondary, and some others mentioned.
1. Trust

My very first story! Yeah! This is kind of going to be a series of one shots. So please enjoy. Mostly focuses on ItaxTema, but SakuxGaa is mentioned in here as well. ANY kind of encouragement would be appreciated. Contains lemony content towards the end.

BTW...I don't really think I need to say this, but I don't own any of the Naruto characters! Honestly, if I didn't I would have to post my crappy story here. For heaven's sake!

* * *

"Temari?" a voice called from down the hall somewhere. She was sitting on the bed in her brother's bedroom trying desperately to ignore the man calling for her. She stiffened when she heard a knock on the door. "May I come in?" he asked her from behind the door. 

She gave him a muffled grunt of acquiesce and he slowly opened the bedroom door. Her immensely gorgeous husband of a week and a half walked into the room. He was wearing black pajama pants which were visible under his open silk robe. His chest was bare. His long black hair fell over his shoulder and she so wanted to run her fingers through it. It looked so smooth. If only she knew him better, knew she could trust him…

She grimaced at her thoughts. "What do you want?" she asked bluntly, harshly.

He sighed. "I wanted to ask if you would join me in your room. We're married after all. You can't just keep hiding from me in your brother's room."

"And why shouldn't I?" Temari shouted at him. "I barely even know you! Why should I spend one night in bed with you?" Her classic temper was making its way to the surface.

He took her verbal assault stoically, if you can call indifferently stoically. He stared into her eyes fiercely. "You don't have to," he replied when she finished. "I won't force you to do anything you don't want to." As he said this, she could read the honesty in his eyes, but she caught a hint of something else. Temari determined that pain. She knew saying the phrase had been hard for him.

Having his children was the reason he wanted her to be his bride in the first place. He wanted the best and strongest to be the mother of his children, and she had been the lucky young woman selected to be the mate of the infamous Uchiha Itachi. If she never slept with him it would be difficult for him to restore his clan legitimately. He was only allowed to have one wife and divorce wasn't an option. They were bound to each other until one of them died. And he couldn't really kill her because if he did, he would in turn be killed by her brother. It was a deal Gaara had made with the Uchiha in order to keep her safe.

It would be possible for him to have mistresses, but the children from such a union would not be considered legitimate children. They would never be recognized as Uchihas. They would be worthless. And everyone knew how Uchiha Itachi dealt with worthlessness; he destroyed it. Better to never create worthless things, then to create them and have to destroy them. Clearly, he would never have a mistress or lover outside of his wife, whom he was stuck with until she or he died.

"…You won't force me into anything?" Temari asked skeptically.

He sat down on the bed next to her. He looked at her solemnly. "I don't want you to be afraid of me. I want you to know that I respect you."

Temari glanced at him. She sighed. "I'm not afraid of you. It's just that…I just met you and now, three weeks later, we're eternally locked in a political marriage. I don't know you and I'm just…"

He put a hand on her thigh. "You're just moving slowly, trying to get to know me better," he finished for her. "I understand." She moved to grab the hand on her thigh and remove it, but he grabbed her wrist before she reached his hand, effectively turning her and forcing her to look into his pleading eyes. She flushed. "Listen Temari, I respect you more that I've ever respected anyone. I want you to have what you want. If you don't want to sleep in the same bed with me, so be it. I...the invitation is still there, whenever you're ready. But you will never get to know me if you spend all your time hiding from me."

Itachi stood up quickly, releasing her hand, and walked briskly out of the room. The door closed gently behind him. Temari sat dumbfounded on Gaara's bed. Did he really respect her? She didn't know. Yes, she was physically attracted to him. But was she attracted to him in more than just that? Only time would tell. She knew that eventually she would accept him, whether she wanted to or not. How soon she would give that acceptance was what the question really was. Itachi talking to her was making her rethink how soon it would really be.

* * *

Itachi sat on the couch in Temari's room reading a book. Well he was trying to read the book, but was actually spending more time thinking about Temari. He could easily understand her wariness of him. She didn't know him personally. In a political bargain, he had helped Gaara put an end to the Akatsuki, whom he had betrayed, and in return he got Temari. Well he hadn't intended on getting her. He wanted a pregnant wife he could take back to the Leaf Village so that they wouldn't kill him. Of course he wanted the best, and for the man who killed his clan because of inferiority, only the best would do. Gaara had said that any Sand kunoichi Itachi selected would be given to him. And after watching her fight, he easily determined that Temari was the best. 

When he informed Gaara of his decision, the Kazekage had seemed distressed. He knew that he would never be able to give his sister away without her consent. She was just too strong willed and temperamental for that. But he couldn't go back on his promise. So with a lot of persuading and an even greater amount of deceiving, Gaara, with the help of elder brother Kankurou, convinced Temari that it would be the best thing for her country was if she married Itachi. Out of loyalty to county, and a more personal devotion to her brothers' wishes, she agreed. He never wanted to end up with the Kazekage's sister, but that's what happened.

Itachi was replaying the wedding in his head (just the wedding, there was no real wedding night), when there was a knock on the door. "Come in," he called.

The door opened to reveal Temari. She was standing in her own silk robe with her hair down. She gave him a sheepish smile, and then sat down next to him. He was rather surprised that she was there, but he did not change his expression. "You came," he remarked in an emotionless voice. He had already used up his emotional quota for the day trying to convince her to move back into her room.

She shrugged. "I realized that Gaara's coming home in the morning and he and his wife might want to sleep in their own bed."

Itachi nodded wordlessly, although not convinced that her given reason was the cause. After a few moments Temari stifled a yawn. "Wow, I'm way more tired than I thought," she stated. "I'm going to go to bed." She stood up and took off the robe so that she was in her nightgown, and then settled down in her bed. After a few moments of expecting to feel Itachi sink down on the bed beside her, she fell asleep.

Almost two hours later, she woke up. She noticed that she was the only one in her bed. She scanned the room looking for Itachi. She couldn't find him at first, and then she heard his soft breathing from the couch. She stood up and walked over to the sleeping form. "Itachi," she whispered. His eyelids fluttered and the breathing pattern changed. "Itachi," she said a bit louder. He opened his eyes and looked up at her groggily. "You can sleep in the bed if you like," she told him quietly.

He stared at her blankly, and then when Temari took his hand, he rose off of the couch in a dazed state. She kept a hold of his hand because he wasn't exactly awake and would most likely end up in a heap on the floor if she didn't help him. He climbed on the bed and collapsed, quickly returning to his slumber. Temari went to the other side and settle back down in the bed. She fell back asleep almost as quickly as the man beside her.

* * *

When Temari woke up, she was draped over Itachi's chest. He was sprawled out, taking up the whole bed. She almost giggled. She hadn't expected him to be such an active sleeper. He seemed so calm and composed when he was awake. Scratch that. So emotionally devoid and uninterested when he was awake. 

She propped herself up on one hand so that she could look down at his beautiful slumbering face and the hair that had got messed up from his tossing and turning. She took a lock into her hand. It was as soft as it looked. He grunted in his sleep, and she quickly withdrew her hand. He rolled towards her and knocked the hand she was using to hold herself up from underneath of her. She collapsed onto his back, effectively startling him awake.

"What?" he asked as he glanced over his shoulder at her. "Oh…" he said as he smirked, insinuating loads with the short phrase.

Temari quickly picked herself off of him, and shook her head, voraciously denying his invitation. "No! No! No! You knocked me over and I fell on top of you! I don't want…I can't! It was an accident!"

He rolled over to look at her. He shrugged. "Suit yourself. That invitation will still be there when you're ready, as well."

She glared at him and stomped out of the room. She wasn't gone for fifteen seconds when she charged back into the room. "That was faster than I expected," Itachi said.

Temari shot him a malevolent glare. "Don't hold your breath. My brothers are home and they don't appreciate seeing their sister in her pajamas." She snatched up her robe and angrily pulled it on. She marched out of the room and slammed the door behind her.

When Itachi was finally up, dressed and downstairs, he saw that Temari had gotten dressed. He wondered briefly about that, but then remembered that she still had her stuff in Gaara's room. Maybe he could convince her to move it back. That would make their current agreement more permanent. Where ever their current agreement was at. He shrugged. He always got what he wanted, and, as much as he wanted to respect Temari's wishes, he would get it. He was exceptionally patient, manipulative and cunning; she would come around, and he was willing to wait. Whether she stayed in her room with him, or moved back to Gaara's room, he would get what he wanted from her.

"Good morning," he said to her as he sat down at the kitchen table. "Sorry about earlier. I shouldn't get ahead of myself." Might as well give a fake apology, even though no part of him felt any regret for his actions. It would lessen the animosity between them.

Her reaction was one he wasn't really expecting. "You don't need to apologize. We're married. You want kids. And I'm here preventing that. Give me more time, Itachi." She didn't look up from the eggs she was cooking. Itachi gaped (yes he really did gape). In the last twenty-four hours she had gone from completely avoiding him to almost ready to consummate their marriage. Had his few words really had that profound of an effect on her?

She brought a plate of scrambled eggs over and set it in front of him. Itachi looked up at her, but she was carefully avoiding his gaze. He mumbled his thanks, and she moved away from him, sitting at the opposite end of the table. He put a fork full of eggs into his mouth, and chewed cautiously. He had already tasted enough of Temari's cooking to know that it could be horrendous. Fortunately, the eggs were alright; not flavored or anything special, but edible. He figured that there was really no place you could go wrong in cooking an egg if you didn't use any seasonings and didn't burn it.

He sprinkled some salt and pepper on, and took a few more bites. He looked at the other end of the table at Temari. She still had her gaze averted. "Temari," he said, "I will not rush you or force you. I will give you all the time you need."

Temari nodded. Itachi waited for more of a response, but when she said nothing, he went back to his eggs. They really weren't bad at all. When he had finished, Temari asked, "Itachi, can I ask you something?" He nodded. "How do you really feel about me? Do you see me as an object to be used to restore your clan or is there more to it?"

He sat silently for a while. He finally said, "It's more than that." He paused for a moment. "When I saw you fighting, I saw your incredible strength and ability. I thought that you were the strongest kunoichi I'd ever seen, and would be a more than suitable woman to restore my clan with. I was also attracted to your beauty. But now that I've been around you more, I truly value your personality, your fighting spirit, your attitude. I know that I'm not really an expert on the subject, having never dealt with it before, but I think I may love you Temari."

Now it was Itachi's turn to look away in embarrassment. He was not used to revealing any emotions at all, and he had just revealed a huge one. Temari stood up and walked over to him. "Thank you for telling me," she whispered, wrapping an arm comfortingly around his shoulder. He looked up at her. She smiled down at him, and he returned his own barely perceptible smile. Everything he had told her he had known. It was just he hadn't really wanted to have to voice it out loud.

He shrugged out of her half embrace. He stood up and was about to walk out the door, but Temari's hand caught his wrist. "Itachi, thank you for telling me the truth," she said much more earnestly. He nodded. She moved in front of his path.

She wrapped her arms around his waist and drew him into a hug. He looked down at her in surprise. After a moment, he returned her hug, pulling her against his chest. After a few seconds, the kitchen door opened. Kankurou walked in and smirked. "Get a room you two," he jested.

Temari stepped back from Itachi with a deadly glare on her face. She then proceeded to verbally assail her brother. Itachi smirked, and then left the room, heading towards Temari's bedroom. This continued until Gaara and his wife, Sakura (yeah, they're married, get over it), entered the kitchen. Gaara cleared his throat to get his siblings attention and when they turned to face him, he glared disapprovingly at them. "Sorry Gaara. This is all Kankurou's fault," Temari apologized.

"It is not!" Kankurou protested. "I wasn't the one who was making out in the kitchen!"

"We were not 'making out', idiot," Temari hissed.

"Enough," Gaara said. He went to the table and helped himself to the eggs prepared by Temari. Sakura sat next to him. Kankurou stuck his tongue out at her and joined the other two at the table. Temari stalked out of the room, muttering under her breath. She decided to take a walk, and she walked out of the house and into the desert sun.

After a good hour of wandering, she found her way into a bar. She sat down for a drink, but before she could place an order, a hand covered her mouth, and she felt a needle pierce her skin. She could hardly give a muted cry before the drug took effect and she slipped unconscious.

* * *

When Temari woke up she was in the middle of a forest. She was bound to a tree, and could hardly move. She heard the voices of the captors somewhere nearby. They were whispering to each other. Temari listened to what she could of the conversation. "We must not let the Uchiha restore the clan." 

"But why is the girl important?"

"You idiot! She's his wife! We need to kill her before she can conceive his children! "

"I don't know…she seems like she could be used for so many better things."

Temari shuddered at the topic of the conversation. There were only two voices. She could fight them. But she didn't have her fan. And she was bound to the tree. She was at their mercy. Not a comforting notion, but she knew that if they harmed her, their lives would be forfeit. If Itachi truly loved her, he would not hesitate to kill them, and Gaara of course would do the same. That gave her some hope, some chance of bargaining her way out of the situation. The captors seemed to be arguing so Temari sank back against the tree and waited for something to happen.

* * *

"Kazekage-sama, your sister has been kidnapped!" a breathless courier blurted as he ran into Gaara's office. 

"What? Is this true?"

The messenger nodded. Gaara dismissed the man, and then ran out of the office, leaving his paperwork half finished.

"Sakura! Kankurou!" Gaara shouted as he ran into the house. "Temari's been kidnapped!"

Itachi was sitting on the couch in Temari's room when he heard Gaara shouting from below. He walked down the stairs to hear what Gaara was yelling about. "Temari's gone? " Kankurou asked in exasperation. He paled in horror. He couldn't bear the thought of losing her. He left them, as Sakura, Gaara, and Kankurou made arrangements to set out to look for Temari. They wouldn't include him in the search anyhow; he was a prisoner as far as they were concerned. So he snuck out of the house and sent out his chakra to track hers. He found the trail he was looking for easily enough and followed it.

* * *

Something must have happened because Temari's captors were suddenly acting jumpy. Temari didn't know what, but she was thankful when the two of them grabbed their weapons, and darted off through the trees. She was left bound to the tree, all alone in the forest. She growled. More waiting. This kind of thing didn't agree with the easily angered and impatient kunoichi. But it wasn't like she really had a choice in the matter. The binds where just too secure. 

But the forced alone time gave her an opportunity to think things through when it came to Itachi. With her life being threatened, she recognized that Itachi was important to her. Her separation from him made her realize that she missed him. Could she really be falling in love with him? She never thought that she would love him. She just assumed she would accept what was expected of her and go along with it. Now she wasn't so sure if she would simply be accepting her duty. The feeling gnawing at her now told her that it wouldn't be.

Itachi came upon a spot where the chakra path got tricky. It seemed one of the two captors had backtracked and had gone off in a different direction. He couldn't let the man live so he followed the trail. He found the man easily enough and dispatched of him quickly.

Somehow Itachi had failed to notice the appearance of the man's partner, and was ambushed when he turned away from the corpse. It was a useless attempt at an ambush. Itachi's eyes turned crimson, and he peered into the other man's eyes. The man went ashen and his face twisted in terror as the vision filled his mind. He screamed. He slumped on the ground, writhing at the horrors the vision was showing him. The man would be a useless shell when he woke up. Itachi retraced his steps, and then followed the original trail.

* * *

Temari heard footsteps in the forest. The sound was coming from behind her, and with the tree obscuring her view, she had no way to determine who it was. She sat quietly waiting for the person to come into view. She wasn't sure whether it was someone coming to rescue her or one of the captors. 

She heard the person from somewhere on her right so she glanced over. To her relief, Itachi stood looking at her. The feeling that had only previously been gnawing, now took the opportunity to wring her. "Itachi…" she murmured. "I,uh… thank you." He didn't move but instead continued staring. "Aren't going to untie me?"

"Hmm…" was his reply.

Temari started to get slightly angry at his lack of interest. "You could at least come a little closer."

He shook his head. "I can't…I made a promise to you. I don't want to break it."

Temari was confused and had to wrack her brain for the promise that he was in danger of breaking. Then it struck her. He wanted her and he didn't want to force her; that was the promise he'd made. Her head reeled, but during her few hours of thinking time she had already knew the answer she would give him. "Itachi, I…" she stammered. Then a smirk played across her face as she finally found the correct way to give her answer. "I'm ready to take up that invitation."

Itachi smirked, then moved towards her, his speed blurring him from her vision. He kneeled beside her sitting form, pulling out a kunai to cut the ropes binding her. He put the kunai back in his holster and straddling her legs, he took her chin in his thumb and index finger, pulling her into a kiss. He held her there for a moment, allowing her taste to infiltrate his mouth. She wrapped her arms around his waist pulling his hips towards her stomach. She moved one hand to run under his shirt, tracing the outline of his defined abs.

He pulled back to catch his breath. He marveled at the increase in his own heart rate. The way his breath caught in his throat as her hand caressed his stomach. He wouldn't have thought that her touch would have this affect over him. Cause him to totally disregard his apathetic facade. To burn with a desire that dissolved his patience and threatened to overwhelm him.

She smirked at him. Grabbing his, shirt she maneuvered him so that she could stand up, then as she did so, she dragged him up with her. Itachi pinned her against the tree, running his hand up her leg, under her skirt. She drew a sharp breath as he pulled down her mesh leggings and her panties. He lifted the skirt and crushed his clothed body against her, taking her mouth into his feverishly. She responded by throwing a leg around him, trying her hardest to get at him, even though his clothes prevented it.

He had no intentions of taking it slow; apparently, she didn't either. As his fingers slipped under her shirt, massaging her breasts sensuously, she grasped at the waistband of his pants, desperately trying to find the part of him that would relieve the tension she was feeling best. She managed to wriggle them down to his thighs. Itachi was still too focused on Temari to notice what she was doing, so he let out a cry when she roughly grabbed his member. His eyes flicked up to hers, and he saw the anticipation and lust coursing through them.

"Now," she whispered to him releasing her grip on his manhood. "Please." She was begging. She couldn't wait anymore…well, neither could he. With a smirk, he pushed inside of her, causing her to whimper out of satisfaction. She moaned with each drive inside of her, matching Itachi's rhythm. When she reached her peak, her scream of pleasure resonated through the forest, and then she slumped onto Itachi in exhausted ecstasy. Not too long afterwards, he reached his peak. Exhausted, he eased himself and Temari onto the forest floor. He pulled off his own shirt and finished removing his pants. He gently kissed her neck. In their desire, they had opted for speed over thoroughness. He wasn't done with her yet …

* * *

Sakura, Gaara and Kankurou heard Temari's scream ring through the forest. In alarm the three of them ran towards the sound. Sakura easily navigated through more familiar terrain, leaving the two brothers behind. "Please be all right," she whispered over and over to herself. Temari meant so much to her beloved Gaara, and the easily angered blonde kunouchi had grown on her as well. She didn't want to see anything bad happen to her. Sakura was certain that Temari was able to fend for herself, but that didn't stop her from worrying. 

Sakura heard someone talking ahead of her, so she slowed down to a walked and slowly crept forward, trying to remain hidden. She edged over to a bush and peered at the scene in front of her. A crimson blush covered her face as she turned to head back to Kankurou and Gaara.

She didn't have to go far. They hadn't fallen too far behind. "What's wrong?" Gaara asked, as he dubiously took in the color of Sakura's face.

Sakura shook her head. "Your sister is fine."

"What about that scream we heard?" Kankurou asked worriedly.

Sakura blushed more. "Oh, I'd say it was your sister's scream alright."

"Then what are you, the medic ninja, doing here, if Temari's hurt?" Kankurou asked incredulously.

"Temari's not hurt. Itachi, he took care of the situation and now they are...She's just…umm…" she glanced about nervously, blushing as she was trying to find away to put her next statement.

Fortunately Gaara had understood what she had been trying to say. "Kankurou, you idiot! Itachi and her are having sex!"

Kankurou's mouth formed an "o" shape. Sakura shot Gaara a "thank you for not being an idiot and understanding what I was trying to say" look. Gaara frowned and his brow wrinkled in displeasure at having to think about his sister having sex.

They trio decided to wait for the two. They had come all the way out here to retrieve Temari and they weren't going to leave without her, no matter how long they had to wait. After an hour, Temari and Itachi came into their view, holding hands and definitely fawning over each other. They stopped when they saw the three waiting for them.

"Hi guys," Temari said, bashfully. "What are you doing here?"

Sakura and Gaara, both having decided it would be best not to mention that they knew what the two had been up to, answered respectively, "Taking a little break, we knew you could take care of yourself. No rush," and, "Looking for you."

Temari nodded. The group made a small fire, having decided that they wouldn't be able to get back to Suna before dark, and Sakura cooked dinner. They ate in silence, desperately trying not to bring up the love making session. Sure they wanted to know about how Temari had been kidnapped and had then been rescued. But Gaara had decided for the sake of his own sanity and probably his life as well, he didn't want to talk to his sister about her sex life. Sakura, having witnessed the incident, was probably scarred for life. Temari knew that they knew, and it wasn't really a subject she wanted to discuss. She was _very__ very _glad that they were avoiding it. Itachi…well, Itachi was kind of sitting around with a smug semi-grin on his face, the only thoughts running through his head were of Temari and, uh, doing Temari.

Then Kankurou, feeling awkward because of the silence, decided to lean over and ask Itachi, "So, how was it?"

Unfortunately for him, Temari heard him and she started pummeling him, all the while giving him such a thorough lashing with her tongue, his physical scars would be long gone before the mental ones would go away. Sakura put an open palm on her forehead. Gaara rolled his eyes and glared at his brother. Itachi crossed his arms over his chest, looking triumphant. He'd gotten what he wanted. That and so much more.


	2. Honesty

Part Two, yeah! I wasn't originally planning on writing this, but it fits and adds a little more to the story. This is after about a ten month time skip, just to let you know. I think you'll find it a little predictable and unoriginal, but I tried. I've also decided to add more to the story, so I'm going to make this chapter shorter than I had anticipated. I don't know when the next one will come out. Actually in a few hours, I officially start my college career. So I will be focusing on that more than on this story but I promise there will be more.

Oh, and I don't own Naruto or anything associated with Naruto.

* * *

"How are you feeling?" Itachi, standing in the bathroom doorway, asked his blonde wife. 

She grumbled in response from her seat by the toilet. "Horrible." Like it was cued, she paled and bent over the opening, vomiting. She moaned.

He sighed, walked over to flush the toilet, and then put a comforting hand on Temari's shoulder. "I'll tell Sakura to come have a look at you," he said. Temari was not in any position to protest; she felt terrible and had already seriously considering going to talk to Sakura. Her sister-in-law was a medical ninja after all.

She nodded, saying, "Okay." Itachi stood up and left the room. This was her second week feeling like this, terrible in the morning, absolutely wonderful the rest of the day. Itachi recognized it for what it was, morning sickness, and he knew that it meant one thing: she was pregnant. He couldn't say exactly why Temari couldn't piece it together on her own. Maybe she was in denial, or maybe it was her blonde side finally surfacing.

Either way, he knew that he didn't want to tell her. He knew if he told her that she was pregnant, he'd gloat and act all smug because he'd wanted her pregnant and he'd succeeded. The probable scene played in his head. She would get all annoyed at his behavior, tell him to stop and he would honestly try. But he would be too proud of himself and her, as well, to totally mask his attitude. And then Temari would go from annoyed to very angry. And he certainly didn't want a repeat of what had happened the last time he'd gotten her very angry at his behavior.

He shuddered at the thought. Not having sex with her for two weeks had almost destroyed him. He had jokingly nagged her about not being pregnant after he learned that Sakura was. He remembered saying something to the effect of, "You're not as good as her." He'd smirked afterwards, hoping his statement would get her riled; he loved it when she got angry. Unfortunately, he'd stepped over "the line" and Temari got _very very _angry. And in her rage, Temari had cut off all sex, after giving him the verbal lashing of his life.

It had been quite the punishment—she'd forced him to sleep on the couch, while she got the bed. He would look at her as she slept, burning with an almost uncontainable desire for her. She even made it harder for him by taunting him as she changed clothes. The whole ordeal had made him realize just how much he really was under her control and what his true feelings about her were. He didn't want to displease her because he loved her. And he'd thought he couldn't feel anything.

Itachi put on some clothes. He'd taken to wearing light gray in the desert because it was, well, the desert. He would have preferred his usual black, but the climate wouldn't allow for it. And gray was better than white. He went downstairs for breakfast with Temari's family like every other morning. Sakura and Kankurou were laughing about something.

He plodded into the kitchen. Kankurou was talking loudly. "And he was all like, 'I'll let you pass, if you beat me…in D.D.R.!" At this, the pair in the kitchen cracked up. Itachi didn't think it was that funny, but he hadn't been there for the whole thing. Not like he would have laughed anyhow. It would ruin the view they had of him, cold and emotionless. He wanted it to stay that way.

Sometimes he wished his emotionless mask would hide some of his true feelings from Temari. He was accustomed to hiding them away, buried deeply under the surface. But Temari could interpret the meaning of a gleam in his eye, a shifting of his weight. Hiding his feelings from her was a fruitless undertaking. He could never win.

Sakura looked up from her laughing and saw Itachi. "Oh, good morning Itachi," she said, warmly but quietly as she caught her breath. He grunted in acknowledgement. "How's Temari this morning?" she asked. She had known that Temari wasn't feeling well, but hadn't had time to come visit her; she was eight months pregnant after all, and she and Gaara had just returned from a trip.

Itachi shook his head. "Not any better. Would you look at her?"

Sakura nodded solemnly. She too had a pretty good guess at what was actually plaguing Temari. She had, in fact, gone through the same thing only a few months earlier. But if Temari was pregnant, that would mean that she and Itachi would be leaving Suna. The two would be returning to Konoha, her home. While a trip back to Konoha was agreeable with the pink haired kunoichi, she knew that Temari would have to stay there with Itachi. And they would all miss Temari something terrible.

Kankurou stood up to leave, saying his goodbyes. Sakura said, "See you later." Itachi gave him a grunt. After Kankurou had left the kitchen, Sakura stated mostly to herself but partially to Itachi, "Guess I better go have a look at Temari."

"Sakura," Itachi began almost apologetically, "I'm pretty sure Temari's pregnant."

Sakura sighed. "I know. That's what I think. I'll look at her just to be sure."

Itachi nodded and left the kitchen without eating. The day was sure to get interesting real quick when Temari was enlightened to the truth of her illness. Sakura followed him, moving much slower than usual due to her heavy-with-child belly. He walked so that she could keep up with him. They reached Temari's room and Sakura knocked on the door. "Stay here," Sakura instructed him as she entered the bedroom.

Itachi stood, leaning against the hallway wall. During his short wait, he had been contemplating how he should respond when she told him she was pregnant. He would definitely have to show his excitement. But he wasn't one to be overly emotional. He shrugged, deciding to go with whatever came out. Who knew what that would be…?

Sakura stuck her head out of the door. "Hey Itachi, come in here," she told him. He did as asked and walked into the bedroom. Temari was sitting on the bed looking confused. This made Itachi confused because he had no idea what there was to be confused about. He shook it off. He'd know about it soon enough.

He sat down beside her. When he wrapped an arm around her waist she looked up at him. She still looked very confused. "Itachi," she mumbled.

"Hmmm?" he asked.

She looked away. He moved a hand to gently hold her chin and turned her head so that she faced him. "What's the matter Temari?" he asked putting as much concern into it as he could muster.

"I'm—I—" she stammered. "We're going to have a baby," she finally said, a pained look crossing her face.

He quickly put his lips on hers, giving her a light but passionate kiss. He pulled back, staring intently into her eyes. "I can't tell you how," he paused to find the right word, "happy that makes me."

"But now we have to go to Konoha. And I don't want to." Temari made a pouting face.

"Temari, I don't like having to go back there anymore than you do. But I want to be forgiven, to no longer be considered a criminal. Your brother can't officially forgive me. Tsunade has to. And this is how we get her to do that."

"I know," she said. "I just wish I didn't have to go too. Like, I'd rather stay here and be with my family. You and Gaara and Kankurou and Sakura."

Sakura piped up then. "You know Temari, I think it will be hard to keep us away from you guys. Gaara spends a lot of time travelling, and once I have the baby I won't be able to go along with him as much. I can come visit you pretty often. And Gaara and Kankurou are your brothers. They'll come visit you just because they miss their big sis too much."

Temari nodded her head, smiling as she realized that what Sakura was saying was true. They would all come visit. It wouldn't quite be the same, but it would probably be enough to make her happy. Besides, she would be with Itachi, and that in itself made her happy enough.

"Thanks Sakura." Temari's mood seemed to do a one-eighty. "So, Itachi what should we name it?"

Itachi sighed. "I think it's a little early for picking out names."

"You're no fun!" she protested, crossing her arms, looking away from him, and giving an indignant _hmph_!

Sakura giggled. "Well, Temari, looks like you're feeling better." Temari threw a glance her way, letting Sakura know she was listening without acknowledging Itachi. Sakura continued, "The nausea will pass in a few weeks. Try to maintain a healthy diet and exercise some too. The better condition your body is in, the better the baby's will be. Now, I'll leave you two alone," she said as she slid out of the room.

Their previous conversation continued after Sakura had left. "I'm no fun?" Itachi asked Temari, eyeing her deviously while keeping his face neutral.

"No fun at all," she said still not looking at him, pretending to be offended.

He smirked. "Maybe I could persuade you otherwise," he said, his voice giving none of his true intentions away.

She turned to glance at him, thinking of a witty response, but was stopped dead when his lips caught hers. She recognized the meaning of his kiss, the emotions behind it, and the familiarity made her respond. She kissed him fervently, grasping his hair and pulling herself against his body. He pushed her down onto the bed, as he moved from her mouth to her jaw and neck. Kneeling over top of her, he worked his own shirt off. He proceeded to do the same with the rest of his clothes and her's as well.

He traced his hands over her stomach, leaving kisses along her collar bone. She ran her fingers in a spastic, clutching way through his long black hair, sending a shiver of anticipation down his spine. A sound similar to a growl came out of his throat, as his kissing became something akin to biting. Temari gasped at his intensity, arching her back to press against him. He snarled.

He had intended on playing with her. But she knew how to make his resolve disappear, and without hesitation that is what she'd done. His desire overwhelmed him. Foreplay was out of the question. He'd be lucky to keep out of her for two more minutes. He knew better than to fight his instincts. It was a losing battle anyhow. He'd get his "fun" when she'd exhausted herself. So he gave in, pushing into her, causing her to cry out in pleasure.

* * *

"Do you take it back?" Itachi asked. "Am I fun enough for you?" He nuzzled the form lying next to him, kissing her back as he went up. 

"I don't know…" she answered turning so that she could face him. "I think you're too serious. Not fun at all. Another round might be able to convince me though..." she trailed off provocatively.

He grinned slyly. "You want another round? Fine by me." With a shrug, he pinned her down, nibbling at her earlobe. With a smirk he told her, "You're going to regret that decision."

* * *

Gaara sat in his office, picking at the remainder of the lunch Sakura had brought for him. She was still sitting there, watching him, looking thoughtful. Gaara recognized the look on her face. She was trying to find a way to tell him something. "You want to tell me something," he said to her. It wasn't a question. 

She nodded. "I looked at Temari this morning. The reason she's been sick is because, well, she's pregnant."

Gaara nodded solemnly. "That's good for her," he said, a hint of regret in his voice. "I should make the necessary arrangements then…"

Sakura sighed. "I think it would be best if we escorted them to Konoha. It'll give her more time with us and us with her."

"You're right Sakura. But I don't want you travelling so close to the birth of our child."

After a bit of silence, her face lit up. "I've got a great idea. Why don't we go with her and I'll stay in Konoha for the delivery? Tsunade was going to come here anyhow. Plus it gives me an opportunity to see some of my friends."

"I'll think about it," he replied, turning back to his papers, signaling the end of the conversation at the moment. Sakura, knowing that it would probably be a "yes", whispered a "thank you," then cleaned up his lunch before silently leaving his office to go home. She knew the conversation would continue when he got home in the evening.

* * *

Kankurou was sitting in the living room looking uncomfortable. Sakura looked at him, perplexed. "What's the matter Kankurou?" 

He twitched. "They're...doing...IT!"

Sakura burst out laughing. "Oh come on Kankurou. It's not that big of a deal. They are married and going to have a kid."

"Well, it is when you have to listen to it every single night! I can hear her and Itachi and you and Gaara through the walls! It's so disturbing!" His rant abrubtly ended when the realization of Sakura's statement sunk in. "Did you just say that Temari's going to have a baby?"

"That's what I said."

Kankurou frowned. "I get it now. Temari must have been in one terrible mood. She never liked the thought of leaving Suna." His frowned turned into a smirk. "So to make her feel better about it, Itachi's reminding her why it would be adventageous for her to tag along."

Sakura shook her head and walked into the kitchen to start dinner.

* * *

The Kazekage walked into his home. He sighed as he closed the doorway, taking in the delectable aroma of the food he knew Sakura had prepared for dinner. He stripped off his official robe, so that he was left in his normal outfit. He walked into the kitchen, eyeing his wife, and when she looked up from the stove and saw him, she gave him a warm smile. "How was your day, Gaara?" she asked him.

His day had been much as it usually was, except for the discovery of his sister's pregnancy and the preparations that had to be made because of it. "It was fine," he muttered. Sakura set a platter of something on the table and moved to stand next to him. She grabbed his hand and brought it up to her lips, kissing it.

"I love you, Gaara," she said.

He eyed her curiously. "What are you doing?"

"I love you," she said again, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him.

He placed a hand on each side of her pregnant belly, and then they heard a loud bang from beyond the door. Temari walked into the kitchen. She was followed closely (very closely) by Itachi. She gave the pair in the kitchen a shrug. "Kankurou really needs to stop picking on me," she said as an explanation as she sat down. The question about the source of the bang disappeared quickly.

Kankurou sulked into the kitchen after them, being sure to avoid even looking at his sister. Itachi sat down quietly beside Temari holding her hand. She smiled at him. Itachi smirk/smiled back. Sakura sat staring blankly, even though on the inside he knew what the look they had shared meant and was trying desperately to block the thought. Kankurou didn't catch it because he wasn't looking at either of them. Gaara stood up quickly, and to avoid any thoughts involving his sister and her husband, announced, "We are all going to Konoha!"

* * *

That's where I'm leaving it for now. I just wanted to get this part up. I will continue with the next part, but I don't know how soon it will be. Please leave reviews. It is such an inspiration. 


	3. Faith

So, I got bored and decided to write the next part so it's up a lot sooner than I expected. This picks up pretty much where the other when left off. Umm...I tried my best. Sorry for any grammar errors and stuff. I was very busy being angry at my internet. Anyways, enjoy.

I DON'T OWN NARUTO AND I DON'T PRETEND TO...I JUST WRITE FANFICTION!!!!

* * *

The blonde kunoichi stood gazing back at the village she was about to leave. She didn't know when she would return again. She'd said her goodbyes to the few in the village she cared about. Fortunately she didn't have to say goodbye to her brothers yet. Yet… but the dreaded day was coming all too quickly.

"Temari, let's go," she heard Gaara say to her. She directed her gaze towards her brother. She nodded solemnly.

A hand brushed against hers, wrapping around her closed fist. She looked over to the source, the raven haired man who was her husband. Temari twined her fingers in his, and squeezed Itachi's hand, giving him a small, sad smile. "This is all your fault," she whispered to him, only half joking. "If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have to leave my home. I'd be happy."

He peered down at her seriously. "Would you?"

She thought about it. Would she be happy if he had never come into her life? She couldn't say. She would have most likely continued her life, not knowing what she was missing out on. She would have been happy enough. But now, she couldn't bear the thought of being separated from him. And as much as it hurt to leave her brothers behind, her bond with Itachi ran deeper.

He was her emotional crutch, even though he easily competed with Gaara for the title of most anti-emotional. As strange and unexpected as the behavior was from him, he was a good shoulder to lean on. When she was angry, he never minded if she took her anger out on him. He actually seemed to enjoy it, the sadist. And there was the fact that the culmination of them being together was growing inside of her.

She cleared her throat. "Umm…I don't think so. I don't think I could be happy without you." She gazed into his charcoal eyes. Actually it was funny; she'd only seen the famous eyes once in her time with him. The time that she'd gotten kidnapped. The time that they had finally consummated their marriage.

He gave her a miniscule smirk. "Then being in Konoha with me shouldn't be so bad." Itachi kissed her gently on the lips. Temari was shocked at his behavior. He wasn't one for public displays of his affection. He pulled back quickly. She glanced at his face and saw a trace of embarrassment.

She looked away from her spouse to her siblings. They stood, waiting patiently for her. Sakura also stood with them, in her customary spot beside Gaara. Temari nodded and announced, "Alright, let's go." Without a word, the group departed, using chakra propelled steps to pass through the still cool desert quickly.

* * *

When the sun finally set for the day, they were already comfortably lodged in an inn. Normally they would have slept outside under the stars, but with Sakura being eight months pregnant, Gaara steadfastly refused to take any unnecessary risks. So they were staying in inns every evening of the three day journey to Konoha.

Actually, Sakura had slowed them down quite a bit, but none of them really cared. Temari was in no hurry to get there. Certainly, she looked forward to the chance to see some of the Leaf shinobi, most of whom she hadn't seen since her marriage to Itachi. But when they got to Konoha, Itachi would be their prisoner. He would be monitored at all times, and his movements around the village would be limited. She would be allowed to do whatever she pleased. She would be bored out of her mind, at least until she officially became a Konoha shinobi, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to do that, and at the moment it didn't matter. She was pregnant and would not be going on any missions for a while.

She shrugged as she laid down into her bed. They had all been given the privilege of being in individual rooms, with a queen bed. Well individual rooms in the sense of being alone with their significant other, which wasn't the case with Kankurou who had his own room. Such is life when your brother is the Kazekage.

Itachi walked out of the bathroom, towel around his waist, water rolling down his toned body. Temari smiled as she watched him walk over to the bed and get on it, kneeling next to her. "Do you want me to keep you up?" he asked her, running his hand along her jaw line and neck.

"Hmm…" she said, pretending to consider. "Tomorrow will be another long day. Very exhausting, I'd imagine."

"Oh please," Itachi muttered sarcastically. He knew she was fooling with him. "Your brother isn't going to push her that hard. We'll have to take a break every hour. We won't even be tired tomorrow, no matter how little sleep we get tonight."

"A valid point," Temari said. She sat up. "Fine, you can keep me up."

He smirked. "I assumed you'd say that." She smothered the smirk off of his face with a fiery kiss. He pushed her down onto the bed. He easily discarded his towel, pushing his bare body against her clothed one. He lifted the hem of her shirt, running his hands along her stomach. His hands lingered, rubbing thoroughly along her abdomen. Temari glanced down at him and caught a glimpse of the look on his face. Extreme pride and joy. He was thinking about the child.

She smiled at him. "You are beautiful," he whispered in her ear, flicking his tongue across the earlobe as he did so. She caressed his back, causing him to arch in bliss. And again his resolve to drag it out crumbled. She knew his buttons too well. It was a losing battle that he really didn't mind losing. As much as he liked prolonging the experience, he also liked taking her as quickly as possible. Truthfully this was the only facet of his life where he could not maintain his apathy, his unnerving self-control.

So in his usual succumbing to his hormones, he worked her bottoms off while she pulled off her shirt. When the process was finished, he pushed into her. She gave a moan, pushing herself as close to him as possible. She bit his neck, drawing blood, causing him to growl at her. He wrapped an arm around her waist, so that he could support her, hold her close as he pulsated into her.

* * *

The rest of the journey was as uneventful as the first day. They arrived at Konoha in the evening, where they were greeted by a hyper blonde boy. Actually, they didn't know it was him until he pounced out of the shadows, and fondly embraced Sakura. "Sakura! It's been such a long time."

She pushed him off of her. "Cut it out Naruto. It hasn't been that long. And you shouldn't jump all over pregnant women. But nevertheless, it is still good to see you."

Naruto turned to say hello to both Gaara and Kankurou. He looked over at Temari and then gave her and Itachi a wary greeting. He was still worried that Itachi was using them to get the Kyuubi, but with the Akatsuki destroyed, that worry had greatly diminished. He showed Gaara, Sakura, and Kankurou where they would be spending the entirety of their stay, and then took Itachi to Tsunade's office. Temari went with them.

Within minutes, the three were comfortably sitting in the Hokage's office, sipping tea. Tsunade started talking. "Well, it seems that the Uchiha clan is going to be restored. That is the reason you two are here. Itachi, I want you to know that although you are a prisoner, a missing nin wanted for uncounted crimes, we want you to be as comfortable as possible. With Sasuke leaving, most of our hope to rebuild the clan vanished. But apparently you seek atonement, and in doing so, you want to restore the clan to its former glory. That is our hope as well." Itachi nodded.

"We have a house prepared for the two of you. It will be guarded, but as you know, Temari, you will be free to come and go as you wish. Itachi, we will be placing a tracking device inside of you. It will set off an alarm if you leave the village. We will also be watching you, guarding you from afar. This is to make sure you don't do anything rash and to protect you from your brother, should he decide to attack you."

She turned to look at Temari. "Let's see how that baby of your's is doing." Temari nodded.

Naruto stood up to leave. "I'll wait outside." Tsunade sighed and dismissed him with a wave of her hand.

Tsunade stood up and walked over to her. She pulled up Temari's shirt so that her bare stomach was exposed. Her chakra laden hand hovered just above Temari's stomach, examining the baby that grew inside. "For the stage that it's in, everything seems to be normal. There is not much to be worried about health wise at the one month mark." She let go of Temari's shirt and it feel back into place. "Complications usually arise later. But that usually occurs with a negligent mother. I assume that Sakura has given you proper instruction on how to take care of yourself."

Temari nodded. "Good. I'll let you go now. Naruto will take you to your new home."

Both of them nodded and bowed their heads in departure. They exited the office, found Naruto and were led to their house. The building itself was nice, a three bedroom house with a kitchen, living room, and two bathrooms. It was very spacious, much more than the two of them had use for. But it wouldn't be the two of them for very long. Temari explored the house while Naruto injected a tracking microchip into Itachi.

Once Naruto was gone, Itachi decided to take a tour of the house with Temari. They selected the bedroom adjoined to a bathroom as their own. They moved in their bags of clothes. Itachi, feeling sly, snuck up behind her, wrapped an arm around her waist, put his chin on her shoulder, and said, "We don't really need to unpack those right now, do we?"

Temari gave him a playful smack. "Oh would you stop trying to get me in bed for one minute. Let's get some sheets on the bed before we do that."

Itachi gave her a lopsided grin that looked out of place on his face. He pulled a plastic package out from behind his back. "I figured you'd say that." In his hands, were bed sheets. In less than five seconds he had the bed made and he had Temari underneath of him.

"You are such a pervert, Itachi."

He looked offended. "I am not a pervert. I am an opportunist. And this was the perfect opportunity."

* * *

When Temari woke up the next morning, she realized that there was no food. So she got dressed and headed out to find a store. On the way she saw Tenten, the girl she had wiped the floor with during the Chuunin exams. Obviously Tenten had no hard feelings because when she saw Temari she came running over, waving her hand. "Hey Temari!"

Temari smiled. "Hey Tenten. It's been awhile. How are things going with you?"

"Oh, they're fine. Actually Neji finally convinced his father to let us get married. So I'm working on wedding plans right now." A smile lit up her face. She was very excited about it. Temari thought of her own wedding. Now it seemed like a good thing that had happened to her, but the day itself had seemed like the worst day of her life. Tenten interrupted her thoughts. "So I guess you're going to have baby. That's the reason you're here, right?" Temari nodded. At her answer Tenten squealed. "Both you and Sakura! That's so cool! More little Konoha babies!"

Temari cocked a brow. "You do realize that Sakura's kids are going to be considered as the Sand's?"

Tenten rolled her eyes. "I know that, but their family will be in Konoha so it almost counts as being Leaf's."

"Whatever you say Tenten." Temari's stomach growled. She made an embarrassed face at Tenten. "Hey, I'm sorry. The house didn't have any food. I'm headed to the grocery store now. It was good to see you, and I'm sure I'll see you around."

"Yep, see you later." Tenten spotted her man, and ran over to him. She told him something, very excitedly, and Neji looked over at her, giving her a nod of acknowledgement. Figures. He was about on the same emotional level as her brother and husband.

Temari made her way to the market and bought as much food as she could carry. She paid for her food and turned to leave. Then she spotted Shikamaru. She blushed a little when she remembered how she used to think of him. But she was married now, to a man for whom she had much stronger feelings. She walked over to him, and overheard him muttering. "Women are so troublesome. What a drag."

She smirked. Classic Shikamaru for you. "Are we now?" she asked him.

He jumped and turned, wide eyed. When he saw it was her, he relaxed. "Oh, it's only you Temari. I thought it was the pregnant woman from Hell."

She smirked at him. "And who ever said that I wasn't a pregnant woman from Hell?"

"You are not _the_ woman," he said. "And yes, I do know that you are pregnant too, along with Sakura."

Temari sneered. "Oh how quickly word travels. You know that the only person I got to tell was Itachi, and I think he knew beforehand too."

"Well at least you didn't have to tell your parents. My parents were elated. Ino's parents on the other hand…" he trailed off ominously.

"Yeah, well I didn't even have to tell my brothers. Anyways, I should go. Itachi should be waking up soon and we both need to have some breakfast," she said gesturing to the bags of food in her hands. "Tell Ino congrats for me."

"Yep, I will. See you around Temari."

* * *

Two weeks later, Gaara and Sakura came over to eat dinner. Kankurou had declined, saying he had something else to do. Temari had pondered what the cause of the weird smile on his face was when he'd said no to her invitation. She shrugged it off and sat down at the table. Itachi's food was always better than her's, and she was looking forward to eating it.

In the last two weeks she had gained a few pounds. Her stomach was starting to fill out. It was just the beginning, and was still imperceptible. Sakura of course was completely filled out. Temari looked over at her. She was so happy; she was in her home village with the love of her life about to have his baby. She smiled at Gaara.

Actually, Temari loved Sakura like a sister. Like the sister she never had. Sakura was given to anger too, and she could be quite violent. But Sakura cared a lot for others, especially Gaara, just like Temari did. Their love for the brothers wasn't quite on the same level, but still Sakura reminded Temari of herself.

"Oh no…" Sakura whispered. Her face contorted in her shock.

"What is it, Sakura?" Gaara asked, very concerned.

Of course, Itachi somehow immediately knew what it was. "Her water just broke." Sakura managed to nod as her body went into a contraction.

Temari shot him a look. "How did you know that?"

He gave her an embarrassed look. "Some of it splashed on my foot."

Gaara was standing next to Sakura holding her hand. "What should we do?"

Itachi took charge of the situation. It was probably the strangest and most bizarre thing Temari had ever seen him do. It was so unlike him. "Well we need to get her to the hospital. We're not in any real hurry. We've got some time before the real labor starts. But the meds can help with the pain."

Gaara and Temari nodded. They each took a side of her and put both of her arms over their shoulder. They propelled themselves to the hospital, chakra making their steps longer. Itachi ran behind them. They easily found the hospital. The medical ninja there took Sakura from them and moved her into a private room. Gaara went with them. He held Sakura's hand, whispering assurances to her. Itachi and Temari sat in the waiting room. They saw Lady Tsunade walk into the hospital. Temari decided that Kankurou need to know, so she asked the hospital to send a ninja out to tell him to get here immediately.

She looked over at Itachi. "How come you know all this stuff about pregnant women and giving birth?"

He rolled his eyes. "How come you didn't know? I've been studying up, since in a few months you'll go through the same thing."

"Whatever Itachi. That's so weird. Usually men just leave that type of thing up to the women. And here you are trying to learn as much about it as possible."

He shrugged. "What can I say. I like pain."

"You are terrible."

"That's how you like me."

"Oh, shut it you."

He smirked. "Make me."

She put a hand over his mouth. He turned his head and escaped the muting object. "You should be thankful to me. If I hadn't known all that I did you two would have been running around, frantically trying to figure out what to do."

"Oh I am thankful," Temari said.

"Good. Now where's my present for being helpful?"

She gaped at him. "We can't do _that_ here!"

He rolled his eyes. "I wasn't talking about 'that'. I want you to kiss me."

"Oh fine." Temari bent down to kiss him. He of course pulled her down into his lap. They kissed and then he just held her.

"You're stressed." He told her. "Take a nap."

She growled. "I'm not tired."

"Yes you are." He started massaging her back. After a while, she yawned and snuggled against his chest. He held her comfortingly and close. He looked down at her face. She had indeed fallen asleep. He smiled at her. She was beautiful. And she was all his.

* * *

I'm sorry about the insane amount of dialogue at the end. I couldn't think of a good way to end it. Anyways, the next part introduces one of my own characters. She was created for the sole purpose of making me feel better. I just thought I'd give you a heads up. I alway appreciate reviews, it gives me incentive to write more. Hope you enjoyed. 


	4. Joy

**I'm proud of myself. There will be no lemony part in this story. I really need to stop resorting to those to fill up space. It's my dirty mind. I can't control myself. But I did this time (might have something to do with this chapter being more serious than the others…). Oh, and I'm going to inform you there is a little mistake in the other story. It was in fact Neji's uncle (not his father, yeah, the father who's dead) who approved his marriage to Tenten. **

**And I still don't own Naruto...who'd have ever guessed.**

* * *

"Hey guys," the Puppet Master said as he plodded into the hospital waiting room. 

"Where have you been, Kankurou? You could at least support Gaara by being here!" Temari demanded in an annoyed tone, standing up from her seat to confront him.

"Umm…I was out," he replied sheepishly. He wasn't going to tell them the real reason he had been late for Sakura's umm…birthing. It wasn't like he needed to be at the hospital for the entire process. And the kid hadn't even been born. He wasn't late for anything.

"What were you doing?" she hissed.

He gulped. "I was out with somebody."

Temari scowled and cocked an eyebrow at him. "Who?"

He hung his head in defeat. He wasn't about to test his sister's patience. She'd have to find out eventually anyways. "It's a girl a met a couple of days ago. When I was doing those grocery runs for Sakura."

"Your brother is about to become a father, and you're out with a girl! This is unbelievable Kankurou!" Temari was irate, shouting insults and profanities at him.

He decided to defend himself. "Well, I had planned on being here, but is it my fault that she went into labor when I was away?"

This of course made Temari even angrier. She was almost to the point where she was spitting fire (I'm personally laughing at this b/c the Uchiha's use attacks where they spit fire…). Fortunately for Kankurou, Itachi intervened, not so much for Kankurou but for his own safety. "Temari, calm down. It really isn't his fault."

She glared at him. "Shut up Itachi."

Itachi rolled his eyes. He stood up and put an arm around her waist. He leaned over and whispered into her ear, "I told you to calm down. Your brother doesn't deserve to take the butt of your stress induced bad mood."

She sighed. "I know, Itachi. I can't help it. I'm worried about them. What if something goes wrong? How would Gaara deal with that? How would any of us deal with it?"

Itachi placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her around so that she was facing him. "Temari, Sakura will be fine. Tsunade, the best medical ninja that's ever existed, is delivering the child. Should anything go wrong, she'll be able to handle it."

"I know, it's just that…" tears were starting to well up in Temari's eyes. Itachi pulled her to his chest to comfort her. He finally comprehended the mood swings pregnant women went through. Of course, it didn't help that Temari was a moody person to begin with.

"Come on, Temari, let's go sit down." She nodded, tears of anxiety streaming down her face, and he led her by the hand over to the couch in the waiting room. They sat down together. He put his arm over her shoulder, pulling her closer to him. "You're exhausted," he told her. She nodded. "You shouldn't put this much pressure on yourself."

Her head sagged against his shoulder. She pulled her feet up beside her. Itachi closed his eyes and leaned his head back. He was just as tired as she was. "Itachi?" she asked him, looking up.

"Hmmm?" He looked over at her.

She pushed herself up so that she could kiss his cheek. "You're the best."

He didn't know what to say to that. In a flat voice, with emotion that only Temari could discern, Itachi replied, "You too."

She smiled. With a yawn she said, "If there's any news, wake me up." He nodded. Within minutes she was asleep, snuggling against him. He kept his arm over her shoulder, rubbing her back and playing with her hair. In her sleep she relaxed and slid down his chest, her head eventually resting on his lap. He was pretty much bored out of his mind. He was also tired. It wasn't too long before he nodded off too, head drooping to the front.

* * *

"Hey guys! Wake up! The baby came!" Itachi's head jerked up with a start. Kankurou's stood in front of him, looking very excited. "Wake her up," Kankurou said, gesturing to his sister, who was still asleep in the Uchiha's lap. "Tsunade said we can go visit them," he continued. 

Itachi gave no indication he'd heard Kankurou other than he looked down and put a hand on Temari to gently shake her awake. "Temari," he said, "Sakura had her baby. We can go see them." Temari looked up at him, a smile adorning her face. She got up, Itachi following in turn, and the three of them went to go visit Gaara, Sakura, and the newest addition to their family.

The three walked into the room. Gaara was holding the infant and Sakura was dozing peacefully. Gaara cooed to the child, his fingers delicately running along the baby's cheek. Temari smiled. Gaara would make a good father. He would be dedicated to showing the child love because as a child that was the one of the things he'd lacked, the love of a parent.

"Hey Gaara," Kankurou said.

He turned around to look at his siblings and brother-in-law. Temari walked up to him. He smiled at his sister. Temari could see the joy radiating in his eyes. She smiled back at him. She looked down at the infant who was sleeping peacefully. "What did you pick for a name?" Temari asked him.

He answered while looking down at the child. "Her name is Manami."

"Manami," Temari mused. "It's a pretty name."

Sakura's eyelids fluttered opened. The talking in the room had disturbed her rest. She gave them all a weak smile. "Hi guys," she greeted them. Manami woke up and started to cry. Gaara quickly handed her over to her mother. Sakura took the child from his hands. She moved her shirt so that the baby could have access to her breast. Kankurou and Itachi blushed with embarrassment and averted their eyes.

Temari smirked at Itachi's discomfort. Sakura didn't exactly smirk at his behavior, but she had a look of amusement on her face. "Itachi, umm," she began. "Thank you for helping me out."

He nodded. Temari walked over to him and wrapped her arms around one of his. "You chivalrous ex-missing nin," she joked with her husband. He rolled his eyes at her.

"Hey Kankurou," a voice was heard from the doorway. Everyone looked to see who the source of the voice was. It was a girl none of them recognized. She had brown hair, curly hair that just went past her shoulders and brown eyes. Her skin was tan. Temari immediately assumed this was the girl he had been spending his time with.

"Oh hey Mizuko," Kankurou said, blushing. "I wasn't expecting to see you here."

The girl shrugged. "I didn't have anything better to do. How about you introduce me to your family?" she suggested.

"Okay. Well, this is Temari. Her husband is Itachi. My brother, Gaara, is over there, and that's his wife, Sakura. The baby's name in Manami." Kankurou introduced her to everybody, pointing them out as he did so.

She smiled at all of them. "It's very nice to meet all of you. Kankurou had told me such nice things about you." Gaara and Sakura gave Kankurou a funny look when she said this. Temari and Itachi knew what Kankurou had been doing.

"Kankurou, what's going on?" Gaara asked seriously.

Kankurou blushed putting a hand behind his head. Temari smiled as she blurted out the answer to embarrass her brother. "He's been going out with her, Gaara. That's why he didn't come to dinner."

Gaara rolled his eyes. "Well, at least he can't complain about us anymore," Gaara mumbled to himself. Sakura smiled at his statement. She'd heard the complaints as well.

"I'll leave you guys alone now," Mizuko said. "Kankurou, I'll see you tonight." He nodded as she left the hospital room.

"Kankurou, why didn't you tell us about her sooner?" Sakura asked him, as she finished nursing Manami and held her to her chest, gently patting Manami on the back to make her burp.

Kankurou shrugged. "You guys were all so busy and concerned about other things that I didn't want to make you worry about me and my love life. I was going to tell you all as soon as the baby was born."

Sakura nodded. "Well she seems very nice. I'm happy for you Kankurou."

Manami let out a tiny burp. Sakura smiled down at the child. "Does anyone want to hold her?" Sakura asked.

Temari volunteered. Sakura gently placed the baby into her arms. The last time Temari remembered being around an infant was when Gaara was born. She pulled the child close to her, supporting its neck and back with her arms. She looked down at the girl. Manami had fuzzy pink hair. She gazed up at Temari with bright green eyes. Temari could see some of the resemblances the child had to its parents. "You're lucky," she told the baby, before offering the girl to Itachi.

Itachi took the child into his arms, which surprised Temari. He gazed at the baby. A small, almost undetectable smile touched his lips. He looked up at Temari with a strange look in his eyes. He handed the girl to Kankurou who, when he had looked over the child, handed her back to Gaara. Gaara held her, gently rocking her until she fell asleep.

Sakura smiled at them. "Hey, I think we should go," Temari said to Itachi and Kankurou. "Sakura looks tired and we should give them some family bonding time."

Kankurou and Itachi agreed. They promised to return later, and left the hospital. Kankurou split away from them, either to go back to his hotel room or Mizuko's. Temari and Itachi walked hand in hand back to their house. When they returned, Temari quietly asked him, "When you were holding Manami, what was going through your head?"

He kissed Temari on the lips, hands wrapping around her waist. "How much I can't wait to have one of my own," he answered.

"You really do want to restore the clan, don't you?" Temari asked.

"At this point, that's hardly what's going through my head."

She gave him a quizzical look. "What do you mean?"

"I love you Temari. I want to have children with you. This relationship isn't about restoring the Uchiha clan. It's about us, about our love. I want to see us, together, in one body. You saw the look on Gaara's face." Temari nodded. "As emotionless as he is, it was easy to see his joy and love. I want to feel that, too."

Temari smirked at him. "You're jealous of my brother."

He pulled her against him. "You bet I am. But I don't have to be for much longer." He kissed her.

"I love you Itachi," Temari said, pulling back from him.

"Me too," Itachi responded.

"You love _you_?" Temari questioned his response, knowing full well his intended meaning was actually "I love you too".

He rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean."

"I certainly do," Temari answered. She kissed him again. He was perfect. He was more than she could have ever dreamed for. If only they had had a more romance filled wedding…

She pulled back, suddenly. "Itachi, let's get married again."

He looked at her perplexed. "We're already married."

She rolled her eyes. "I know that. It's just that our first wedding was so depressing. Let's have another one…with lots of friends and happiness."

"If that's what you want, Temari," he conceded. "But if we're going to do that, you better up the payment for being such a help with getting Sakura to the hospital."

"I'd do that for you even if you hadn't helped," Temari said, grabbing each of his hands with one of her own. "Let's go," she whispered, pulling him towards the bedroom.

* * *

**Sorry that this chapter ended up being so short. I couldn't think of anything else to put in it. Oh well. The next part might take awhile because I don't know what I should write it about. Yes, I do know where this story is going, I just don't know what I should put in between them. More time to finish the DeidaraXIno one.**


	5. Departure

**Well I don't particularly find this one too interesting. I'm going to call this chapter a filler. It takes up some time before I get to the conclusion and it offers up some ItaTema goodness in the meantime. No but it does give some bg info on Mizuko. And Itachi might just be a bit OOC towards the end. But as I was told, "Of course Itachi's emotional around Temari when she's asleep and there's no one else to see him." Just keep that in mind.**

* * *

Sakura stood holding one month old Manami in her arms. The young girl was now old enough to safely travel back to Suna. Sakura was a bit surprised. She had come to think of Suna as her home and she was longing to go back. Of course, she knew that probably had something to do with Gaara being there. He couldn't totally neglect his duties as Kazekage, so he'd left her in the capable hands of Tsunade and his sister. Gaara had visited the two of them every weekend, while they stayed with Temari and Itachi.

The day for their return was upon them. Temari and Itachi stood across from the Suna bound group, Itachi's arm around his wife's waist. Temari was no longer upset about having to stay in Konoha. Sure she'd miss her family, but she'd grown accustomed to the idea and she was about to start her own family, and it didn't seem like such a big deal.

Of course Kankurou wouldn't be heading back to Suna immediately. He and Mizuko would be leaving later in the day, to head back to her village. In a month, they'd decided that they were destined for each other, and he was going home with her so that he could marry her. They'd considered eloping, but the Water Maiden had demanded that they get married in the traditional manner.

Temari personally found it strange to think of Kankurou getting married. The kid had never had a girlfriend in his life. Now he was getting a wife. It was usually kind of disgusting to see the two of them together. They hung all over each other. This was not the case in either Itachi and Temari or Sakura and Gaara's relationships. They maintained their distance when in the eyes of others. The cause was most likely the anti-emotional states of both Itachi and Gaara. But still, watching Mizuko and Kankurou was disturbing.

They said their goodbyes, promising to see each other soon. Gaara and Sakura carrying baby Manami turned, leaving the two couples behind. Kankurou and Mizuko were going to eat dinner with the Uchiha's before departing so they turned to go home with Itachi and Temari. The four made their way back to the house, where Itachi started preparing the food. Temari enjoyed her time with her more obnoxious brother, laughing and carrying on, occasionally whacking him upside the head.

Mizuko joined in beating up on Kankurou. And the situation went downhill fast. Temari was quickly forgotten about, as the two of them proceeded to make out in the living room. She was about to thoroughly beat the two of them up when Itachi poked his head out of the kitchen door. Temari could see the amusement on his face. Mizuko and Kankurou eventually noticed his presence and stared at him in guilt. Temari knew that he was messing with them, but the looks on their faces were priceless. Being stared down by the infamous Itachi Uchiha.

He cleared his throat and said to them in a menacing tone, "Get a room." Temari could see the sparkle in his eyes. He was enjoying making her brother squirm.

Of course Kankurou decided to be a smart-aleck. He gave them a nod of apology, picked up Mizuko bridal style and carried her into a bedroom. Itachi rolled his eyes. Figures Kankurou would take what he told him literally. Temari laughed about it. Until she heard the noises coming from the bedroom, and ran to Itachi in the kitchen.

"Make it stop," she begged him. "It's burning my ears!"

He shrugged. "He's been listening to us for awhile."

"But it was different. He's a guest in _our_ house now. He can't just come in and have sex with his girlfriend." She was clearly getting irate because of the situation.

"Relax will you," he told her pulling her into a hug.

"No," she said. "He should be visiting me, not screwing around with the girl he'll be married to in like a week."

Itachi shrugged as he held her. "Young love…it's so focused on sex."

She glanced up. "I don't think you're qualified to say that."

"Oh really?" he asked kissing her.

She pulled back smiling. "That proves my point. You want me right now, don't you?"

He shrugged. "When don't I? But my self control is second to none."

Temari gave him a twisted grin. On the inside Itachi grimaced. "I beg to differ. You always want to take the long road with me, but I can make you resolve waiver in five seconds. Some control over yourself you have."

"What if I don't want to control myself?" he asked backing her against the counter. He kissed her neck.

Temari felt the familiar tingling creeping up her spine. "Good, 'cause I don't want you to," she replied. His kisses grew more demanding, and his hands ran along her body. He loved her bulging stomach. The growing baby was still almost undetectable, but Itachi's eyes and hands had been over her body many times, and he could easily discern the subtle differences being pregnant had brought about. He teasingly nibbled at her neck, earning a soft moan in response. He smirked. And then the kitchen door opened.

Itachi just turned his head to glare at the interruption. Temari blushed and looked away. She was still pinned against the counter. A very messy looking Kankurou walked in followed by an even more ruffled looking Mizuko. Kankurou shook his head. "Temari, what have I told you about making out in the kitchen?"

Of course, Temari had a mood swing at a very appropriate time. She went from embarrassed to monster in the blink of an eye. She easily pushed Itachi off of her and confronter her brother. "Yeah, well it's my kitchen! I can make out in it if I want to! You're the one who goes around having sex in other people's houses!" She grabbed the first thing she saw, which happened to be a spatula, and mercilessly beat Kankurou with it. Kankurou cowered in fear as he was assaulted by his sister. Mizuko just stood laughing hysterically at them. Itachi ignored them and went back to cooking dinner.

* * *

Mizuko enjoyed this family. They were so much fun to be around. Even the intimidating Gaara and Itachi. But Kankurou was everything she'd been missing in life. She'd been orphaned when she was six. Her parents had been found frozen to death in the middle of spring. From that moment on she dedicated herself in service to her village, the Hidden Waterfall Village.

Everyone in the village was weak, and she quickly learned that she was special. She could use her chakra to manipulate water. But since she was afraid of being viewed as a freak, she hid her abilities. She pretended to be weak, pretended to be normal weak shinobi of the Waterfall Village.

Then she'd been sent on a scouting mission to Konoha, and there she'd met Kankurou. It wasn't long before she told him that she had the ability to use water jutsu. He was really excited about it, which surprised her. She would have been outcast for being powerful at home. He encouraged her to increase her power and skill. So she did. And it hadn't taken her long to fall in love with him. He was attractive and he was the first she'd ever opened up to. He wanted her to be the best she could be.

And apparently he'd been feeling lonely because his siblings were all married, and he was left alone. He was jealous of them, longing for someone to love. And when he'd seen Mizuko it was love at first sight. She was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. When he learned more about her, he grew more attracted to her. Though the relationship had started quickly, they knew that they were fated for each other.

Mizuko couldn't wait to get married to him and leave her village. She could never become as great as she could if she stayed there. And marrying him was the perfect out. She'd officially be a Suna nin. Besides she loved him, and would have left the Waterfall Village with him even if there were no other advantages to their union.

Kankurou squeezed her hand and gave her a smile. Yep, no part of her was ever going to regret this. "Did you like your food?" he asked her, making a face that told her if she didn't want to be confronted by Itachi Uchiha she'd better say yes.

So she did as Kankurou insinuated. "Yes, it was very good. You're a great cook, Itachi," she told him. Of course the food had been good and she would have said so even without Kankurou's insistence. The two of them stood up. Itachi nodded his thanks, not changing his face. Mizuko wasn't sure how Temari or Sakura managed to stay sane with such antisocial husbands, but she guessed they had their methods.

"Thanks for dinner, Itachi," Kankurou said. "I guess we'll be on our way now." Mizuko nodded her agreement.

Temari stood up. "Yeah, I'm going to miss you Kankurou," Temari told him as she gave him a hug. She gave Mizuko a hug too. "Take good care of him," she told her soon-to-be sister-in-law. Mizuko nodded. "I'm sure I'll see you guys soon," Temari said.

Kankurou smiled. "You bet. We'll be here pretty frequently to get tabs on you."

Temari smiled back and slapped her brother playfully. "I'm not going to need you to keep tabs on me."

He gave her a cheesy grin. "And you think Gaara's not gonna have Tsunade sending reports on your status? Come on, sis. You know how much we care about you."

Temari smiled. "I'm gonna miss you guys."

"Yep, we'll miss you too. But we'll be around and you know it."

She gave him one last hug and the two of them walked out of the door.

She sighed and walked into the living room. Plopping down on the couch next to Itachi, she said, "I really am going to miss them."

He looked over at her. "Don't worry; they'll be here way more than we want them to be."

She gazed up at him. She leaned onto his shoulder and grabbed a loose lock of hair to play with. "What should we name out baby?" she asked him.

He shrugged. "It should be something that suites the personality. So we should wait until it's born."

"I guess you're right," she told him. She moved her legs so that she was kneeling next to him. "You know, we should take this conversation into the bedroom." She gave him an angelic smile.

He rolled his eyes. "You didn't need to use that face to convince me. I was waiting for a chance to make up for lost time earlier."

She grabbed his hand and pulled him to their room. From there she undressed him as he undressed her. He pulled her down into the bed with him and proceeded to kiss her, run his hands along her body. She cried out his name as he pulsed into her. And in a euphoric high, she collapsed on the bed exhausted. She drifted off to sleep, her beloved husband beside her.

Itachi stared at his sleeping wife. He reached out a hand to stroke her face. He was struck by all sorts of fears at that moment. What would his brother do when he found out? Would the pregnancy go according to plan? Would he be a good father?

He grimaced at his last thought. It would be difficult for him. His father hadn't been the best example and then he'd killed the man. So he had nothing to base his actions off of. He figured he'd just follow Temari's lead. She had pretty much raised her younger siblings. Looking at Temari he felt deep regret for killing his mother. She was the one person who he wished he hadn't killed. Especially now, with his own wife about to become a mom.

"I love you," he whispered to her to dispel his troubling thoughts. He would be strong for Temari. He'd be whatever she needed. He would never again let a desire for power overcome the love he had for his family. He had been changed on the inside. It had been a process years in the works, but the end result was finally near. He was attached to another person. He'd never let anything bad happen to her. He would rather die.

Temari's eyes fluttered open. "Go to sleep," she whispered groggily. She closed her eyes and snuggled against him. He wrapped his arms protectively around her. Itachi matched his breathing with hers and quickly felt tiredness sneaking up on him. He rested his head on his pillow and closed his eyes. Before he fell asleep he whispered, "I love you, my dear Temari."

* * *

**For those of you who have deviant art, you might recognize the one scene at the end. Yep, it's the one I just drew and posted. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'll try to get the next chapter up soon, but I'm feeling particularly uninspired. So I'm not making any promises.**


	6. Patience

**This story is not filler. It is actually integral to the plot (I'm sorry I just watched the new YGO:AS stuff). I don't know, this is what I do when I don't study and I should be. I write fanfiction...or I draw. Never know what's gonna happen when it comes to me.**

* * *

Temari woke up to Itachi softly calling her name. She grunted at him and tried to roll over and go back to sleep. "Temari, you have an appointment with Tsunade this morning," Itachi told her. She tried to ignore him. If she needed to see the med ninjas so bad then they should come to her. Itachi was persistent. "If you don't get up, I'll drag you there myself." Temari was still too asleep to catch the humor he saw in the prospect.

"Nngh..." Temari moaned as she sat up. "Do I have to? Why can't I just sleep in?"

Itachi threw her towel at her. "Get up and get a shower. I'll make you breakfast."

Temari perked up at the prospect. She loved Itachi's cooking and since she was eating for two now, she was hungrier than normal. "Okay," she replied with a nod as she got off the bed and grabbed her towel to head into the bathroom. Itachi shook his head as he watched her disappear. He turned to start making the promised meal.

Temari took off her pajamas, and turned on the water. She turned to look at her naked body in the mirror. She smiled when she saw the reflection of her growing belly. She was almost three months along, and she was reaching the point where her stomach was getting noticeable. She wasn't completely showing yet, mostly it just looked like she'd gained a few pounds, but Temari was proud of herself. And she liked looking at her stomach in the mirror.

She took her time in the shower, washing herself thoroughly. When she finished she grabbed her towel and dried herself off. She wrapped it around herself and headed back to the bedroom. She pulled out her clothes for the day, laying them on the bed. Itachi walked in and gave her a sheepish smile. "Sorry. I needed to grab this," he said indicating object in his hand, the mug that he usually used for tea.

He walked out of the room. Temari was surprised that he had almost completely ignored the fact that she was in a towel. Normally, Itachi would have been all about getting her out of the towel. Temari assumed that something was going on in his head, something big enough to take his mind off of the fact that she had been standing before him in a towel. She'd ask him later.

She pulled on a pair of loose-fitting, light blue pants and an unrestricting black shirt with the Uchiha symbol on the back. She usually felt silly when she wore the clan symbol. She herself was not actually a part of it after all. She'd only married in, but Itachi still insisted that she have some clothing with it. She pulled her hair back into her classic four ponytails, and put on her sandals. She'd stopped wearing her Sand Village hitai-ate since she was no longer a Sand ninja. She was an Uchiha, and her alliance was now with Konoha. But she'd have to wait before she could become a Leaf nin. The life of a pregnant woman and the life of a shinobi were too very different things.

She walked out of the bedroom and headed for the kitchen. She walked up to where Itachi was standing at the stove. She peered around him to look at what he was cooking. "Pancakes, huh?" she asked him.

He looked over at her and smiled. "Yep," he answered. He wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed her cheek. "I love when you wear that shirt," he told her.

She blushed. "Of course you do, _Uchiha _Itachi," she retorted, placing emphasis on Uchiha because she knew that the real reason he liked the shirt on her was that it showed off the fact that she was an Uchiha. He smirked at her, removed his arm from around her waist and picked up a plate, placing the newest pancake on it along with two others before handing it to Temari. He served himself two and once more wrapped his arm around her waist as he led her to the table.

They sat down across from each other and each prepared the pancakes to their liking. Temari dumped on a whole bunch of syrup. Itachi smothered his with butter and added a little syrup for sweetness. They ate, casually conversing about…well, I don't really know what they conversed about, but they conversed.

Eventually the subject turned from casual to more serious. "Itachi, this morning, why didn't you do anything about me being in a towel? I mean usually you're all over an opportunity to, err… get me naked."

Itachi sighed and looked at her with a little bit of apprehension. "Umm…I did notice that you were in a towel. And don't think that I didn't want to, but I'm trying to get better about that. As your pregnancy progresses, we're going to have to start having less sex. And I think that's the one area where I can't control myself. So I'm trying to wean myself off of it little by little, so that the few months where we can't, I'll be able to bear it. I hope you don't mind…" he trailed off looking away from her.

She mulled it over. "I don't mind," she told him quietly. "I was concerned earlier, because you know, that's not usually how you are. You don't try to hide that side from me, ever. And I was surprised to see you suppressing it." She stood up and walked over to him. She sat down on his lap. "I appreciate what you're trying to do, and I'll try to help you with it." He pulled her against himself, nuzzling his head against her shoulder.

He looked at her, and she smiled back. "This is going to be hard for us, isn't it?" Temari asked.

Itachi nodded stiffly. "Yeah. I…um…Temari, it might be best if you get off, and we…er, go to your appointment." He had a look akin to begging in his eyes, and Temari knew that he was struggling with the very thing they had just been talking about. He wanted her at the moment, pretty bad. So she stood up and hurried to the bathroom to brush her teeth, yelling back to him, "I'll be ready to go in a couple of minutes."

Itachi sat on the chair flushed, fighting his instincts. Eventually, he composed himself once more. He had one of the moments when he berated himself for being weak, for being under the control of a woman. But he told himself that was not the case. It wasn't as much that he was being controlled by Temari as his feelings for Temari controlling him. This wasn't weakness, this was empowering. Who knew how ruthless he'd be if anyone ever threatened Temari or their child. He almost shuddered at the thought; he'd certainly be more frightening and powerful fighting with emotion than he had been without. It was something that he'd learned by being around Temari and her siblings. Emotions are powerful, probably more powerful that the most potent of jutsu.

Temari appeared in the kitchen and announced that she was ready to go. Itachi nodded and stood up. They walked outside of the house, closed the door, and proceeded to Tsunade's office. Tsunade was the primary person who saw to them. Even though she was busy with her Hokage duties, she refused to let anybody else see to the future of the Uchiha clan. So she took care of it herself.

The pair entered her office. She smiled at them. "Here for your check-up, I see," she said to them almost cheerily. Temari nodded. Tsunade stood up and walked over to them. She leaned on her desk as she asked Temari a few questions.

"How do you feel?"

"Fine. Hungrier than I used to be, but I guess that's to be expected."

Tsunade nodded. "How much weight do you think you've gained?"

Temari thought about it. She hadn't been keeping close track of it but she thought it was about ten pounds. So that's what she told Tsunade. Tsunade nodded, and then told her, "You don't need to gain more than twenty-five to thirty-five pounds for the entire pregnancy. It's healthier for you and the baby."

Temari nodded, as did Itachi because now that he knew that he would carefully monitor what she ate since he did all the cooking. "Okay," Tsunade announced, "let's give you an examination." Temari nodded and stood up. She lifted her shirt and Tsunade ran her chakra laden hand along the tiny bulge.

Tsunade frowned. She kept examining. After a while she stopped and called, "Shizune!" The black haired assistant rushed it.

"Yes, Lady Tsunade?"

"Get me a Hyuuga in here now. I don't care which one, I just need to have someone with Byakugan in here to confirm my suspicions."

"Yes, Lady Tsunade," Shizune answered before rushing out of the office.

Itachi stood up in alarm. "What's the matter?" he demanded.

Tsunade shook her head. "Nothing's wrong, I just want to make sure of something." She walked out of her office, leaving Temari and Itachi to look at each other in apprehension. They were about to have a nervous discussion about it when Tsunade came back in with Hinata Hyuuga.

The shy kunoichi activated her Byakugan. After a few seconds she looked up at Tsunade and said, "You're r-right, L-lady Tsunade."

"Thank you, Hinata," Tsunada said.

"What's going on?" Temari demanded.

"Y-you're g-going to h-have twins, Temari," Hinata said shyly, stuttering.

"What!?" Temari demanded. Itachi's jaw dropped. He glanced over at his wife. She was repopulating the clan a lot faster than he thought she would. Twins…

Tsunade nodded. "Yep, you're having twins. I thought that I was sensing two different chakra signatures, but there wasn't enough of a difference for me to be sure. So I needed the Byakugan to see them in order to be positive."

"Th-there were t-two f-fetuses," Hinata said, keeping her eyes directed to the floor.

Itachi nodded at the girl. Temari was still too shocked to say anything. Itachi, on the other hand, was feeling rather giddy about the situation. He was going to have two kids in one sweep. Temari looked over at Itachi, questions filling her eyes. Itachi gave her a comforting look, and took one of her hands in his own and gave it a gentle squeeze. Temari relaxed, then looked up at Tsunade. "What am I going to have to do differently now?" she asked.

"Well, the weight gain is going to go up a little. I wouldn't go over fourty-five pounds. And we're going to have to keep a closer eye on you. With twins there's a greater risk of complications. Other than that, just stay healthy and keep doing what you're doing. Everything seems to be fine at this point."

Temari and Itachi nodded. "Thank you, Tsunade."

The Hokage nodded. "I'll see you in a couple of weeks then," she said dismissing them to get back to her normal paperwork. Hinata turned to leave as well. Tsunade thanked her for her help, and she nodded and left. She followed Itachi and Temari out of the building. Temari noticed her behind them, and stopped at turned around.

"Thank you, Hinata," she said.

Hinata nodded bashfully. "Y-you're w-welcome, Temari."

Itachi also muttered a thanks, and then they headed one to buy some groceries, while Hinata headed back to the Hyuuga compound.

They meandered around the food market, picking out the food that they needed and some other stuff that they wanted. "Hey Itachi?" Temari asked as she picked out a few ripe apples.

He looked over at her cocking an eyebrow. "Hn?"

"Uh…never mind. I'll tell you when we get home."

He shrugged, but he hated it when she did that. He picked out some nice looking produce for himself, and then proceeded to head to the clerk to pay. Temari followed in suit. Itachi paid for the food and the two of them headed towards home, enough food to feed them for the rest of the week.

* * *

When they had finished unpacking, Itachi asked Temari, "What did you want to tell me in the store?" It had been bothering him a lot. There was usually reason for him to be interested in what Temari wanted to tell or ask him. Usually it pertained to him in some way, as well.

She shrugged. "I was just wondering how you felt about having two now instead of one."

He motioned for her to join him on the couch. He walked over to it and sat down, as did Temari. He put his arm around her shoulder. "I think that it will be more challenging. But you remember what I told you…about how I was jealous of your brother's joy at having his own child?"

Temari nodded. She remembered that conversation. Itachi continued, "Now I will get twice as much joy." He gently touched her hair. He leaned over and whispered into her ear, "And I look forward to that elation."

Temari stared up at him, her face unreadable. And that was weird for Temari. "What's the matter?" he asked her, concerned about her behavior.

"I'm scared…" she said, peering into his charcoal eyes. "I…it was bad enough…the apprehension I felt about having just one. Now there's going to be two. Itachi, I don't know if I can do this." A tear rolled down her cheek.

Seeing Temari this scared sent Itachi's limited emotional side into overdrive. He pulled her to his chest, cradling her. He whispered into her ear, "I'm scared for you, too. I don't want to lose you. But everything will turn out fine. We can do this. I know we can."

He held her close for several minutes, whispering assurances, kissing the top of her head. Eventually, she pulled back to look up at his face. She looked at him through wet eyes, a smile on her face. "Thank you, Itachi."

He smiled down at her. He gave her forehead a kiss, and said, "No problem."

Temari yawned and snuggled into his chest. "I love you so much Itachi. I don't know what I'd do without you."

He caressed her back soothingly. "I know. The same goes for me." He looked down at her to see that she'd fallen asleep. In order to make her nap more comfortable he arranged himself so that he was lying on the couch, leaning against the armrest. Temari was lying between his legs, her head resting on his chest as she slept. He picked up a book he'd left next to the couch and started reading.

Subconciously, as he read, his breathing started to match hers. He felt himself getting really groggy. Eventually, he gave up on the book and scooted himself lower, careful not to wake Temari up. He propped his head on the armrest and fell asleep.

* * *

"Neji, why did we have to be the ones to tell them?"

Neji shrugged at his fiancée. "Shikamaru asked me to."

"Fine," Tenten said, as she knocked on the door. There was no answer. "I wonder why they're not answering," she mused to herself. One of the possible reasons popped into her head and she quickly scratched the question. She didn't really want to ask Neji that, because if they were doing what she thought they were doing, which was each other, she really didn't want her fiancée to be looking at it with his Byakugan.

"They're asleep on the couch," Neji told her. "I looked in the window." Tenten looked at him skeptically. "I'm serious. You can see them from here." He made her stand in the spot he had been standing at, and Tenten looked in the window. She let out a sigh of relief. They certainly were on the couch and both of them still had clothes on…

Neji looked up at the sky. "How in the world are we supposed to give them Shikamaru's message now?"

Tenten shrugged. "You tried. They'll find out that Ino had her baby soon enough."

"But I promised Shikamaru that I'd tell them," Neji half-protested.

Tenten gave him a sly smirk. "I've got a better idea. Something else that we can do."

"What would that be? Me?" he asked her, keeping emotion out of his voice even though he was greatly looking forward it.

"You bet."

* * *

**I do not apologize if you think Itachi is OOC. I like to think that he's at the point with Temari that they are so familiar with each other that he does not feel the need to hide his emotions from her. I am not sorry. But I am sorry if Neji was OOC. I don't write Neji...ever. On a side note, Itachi likes his pancakes the way I like my pancakes. With lots of margarine and a little syrup.**


	7. Happiness

**Meh...part seven. So I've decided that I just want to get this story finished. I want to be done so that writing it will stop distracting me. So within the week I plan on getting it finished. But this means that it could have a rushed feeling to it. I'll try not to let that happen. This chapter is interesting and random I guess.**

* * *

Itachi was not in a good mood. He was stuck walking back and forth between his house and the Hokage's office carrying food. And he didn't like having to do what his freaking in-laws told him. They were having a surprise birthday party for Temari. Itachi had just wanted it to be a very special little party with just him, her, and her family. Nothing big, nothing fancy. But Kankurou, Mizuko, Gaara and Sakura had decided otherwise, and now he was stuck hauling groceries. 

The group had just arrived from Suna a few hours ago, and Sakura and Mizuko had taken Temari on a maternity shopping spree. Everything would be birthday presents of course. But that left Kankurou, Itachi, Gaara and baby Manami to decorate the house and get the food, before everyone else arrived and their wives returned. Kankurou had popped several balloons. Each resulting explosion had caused Manami to cry. Every time this happened Gaara had to stop putting up streamers to calm the child back down. Kankurou would apologize and Gaara would shoot him a death glare. Kankurou would cower then get back to filling up balloons with helium.

Itachi trudged through the streets of Konoha, carrying his third and fourth box. There were six boxes of food total. He muttered to himself as he kicked at the door of his house so that Kankurou or Gaara would open the door for him. The door opened and he nodded his thanks to Gaara. He noticed that Kankurou was entertaining Manami by talking to her in a peculiar voice. He'd been sucking helium. The baby was giggling, and Gaara rolled his eyes. It looked like the two of them were done decorating.

He looked at Kankurou. "Go get the rest of the food," Itachi commanded him viciously. Kankurou was not about to protest, not when he could easily see that the Uchiha was in such a terrible mood. So he stood up and stalked out of the house. Itachi took the boxes he'd brought into the kitchen and started unpacking them, arranging the food. When he'd finished, he went back into the living room and plopped onto the couch.

He gave Gaara a grunt of acknowledgement. Gaara nodded his greeting. The two of them never said much to each other. Itachi looked at Manami who was looking around taking in the scenery in a carrier on the floor. He moved to pick her up, pausing to give Gaara a look to ask for permission. Gaara nodded and Itachi picked the girl up. He held his niece, looking at the girl's piercing green eyes and red hair. She stared at him, and he stared back. He made a face at the girl, and she smiled. This in turn caused him to smile. He really liked babies. And he was getting two.

Itachi held the girl until she fell asleep on his chest. He put her back into her carrier and stood up, stretching. Just then there was a knock on the door and Itachi went over to answer it. It was Kankurou lugging the boxes with Naruto, who was also dragging a box of his own, behind him.

"Wow Itachi! You made this place awesome!" he shouted exuberantly as he took in the decorated house. His outburst woke up Manami, who proceeded to cry. Itachi shook his head. Gaara stood up and went over to pick up his daughter.

"Good going, Naruto," Kankurou told him sarcastically.

Naruto gave Gaara, who didn't look to happy about the situation, a sheepish grin. "Sorry, Gaara. I didn't mean to wake her up."

Gaara just shook his head and focused on the girl. She had stopped crying, and was starting to fall back asleep, resting comfortably in her father's arms. Itachi stood up and grabbed the last of the boxes and took them into the kitchen, he arranged the contents in the kitchen as well. The last box had the birthday cake, so he put it in the center and put in candles that read "22" (yeah, you know…the kind with the numbers). When he felt satisfied with the arrangement of all the food, he walked out of the kitchen, only to find that the number of people in his living room had just quadrupled. Gaara was no longer there, since he had taken Manami so that she could be in a private, quiet room and not get woken up again.

Itachi looked at all the faces. Shikamaru, Ino, and their son, Ren, Neji, Tenten, Hinata, Naruto, Kiba, Shino, Lee, Chouji (who was the reason for there to be six boxes of food), Tsunade, Shizune, Kakashi, and even Jiraiya. That seemed to be all of the people and five o'clock was almost upon them. The girls would be home soon.

Everyone was conversing excitedly when Neji abruptly announced, "They're going to be here in a few seconds." (A/N- I was going to have him say, "The British are coming!",but I decided not to. It didn't make sense, but it would have been funny)

Everyone quickly found hiding spots. Gaara walked out of the bedroom carrying Manami and took a seat on the couch right next to Kankurou who was beside Itachi. They turned on the TV, pretending to be deeply involved in the stupid movie that was on. Temari, Sakura and Mizuko walked in the house carrying several bags of purchased items. Mizuko gave Kankurou a cheesy grin and said, "We're back!"

At those words everyone popped out of their hiding spot, shouting, "Surprise!", "Happy Birthday!", or some other cheerful phrase. Temari gasped and put her hands over her mouth. Itachi stood up and walked over to her, pulling her into a hug. "Are you surprised?" he asked her.

Obviously, she was, so she could only nod mutely in response to Itachi's question. "I…Wow! Thank you guys," she said when she'd finally recovered from her shock. They all just smiled at her, and then somebody turned on some music. People started dancing. Temari talked to everyone, thanking them for the surprise. Itachi pretty much hovered around her. None of these people were his friends exactly. They put up with each other, but they didn't have any sort of close relationships. He only really had a relationship with Temari and her family, of course. Which was why he'd only wanted a small party to begin with. But it was too late for than now.

* * *

People filtered in to get food. The two babies had issues with all the noise so Ino and Sakura took their children outside while the party continued. They sat down on the chairs on the back porch, looking at the woods behind Temari and Itachi's house. It was so peaceful back here. 

"Ino, what do you think Sasuke will do when he finds out about Temari?" Sakura asked her friend.

Ino shrugged. "It's hard to say. I know that it was his goal to restore the clan himself. And now his brother, the brother he wants to kill, is doing that. I don't think he's going to be happy. "

Sakura nodded. "I'm pretty sure Tsunade is watching out for him. So if he comes close she'll send ANBU after him."

Ino frowned. "Will the ANBU be enough? I mean, he got really powerful."

Sakura shrugged, and looked down at Manami. "I know that I'd do anything to protect my Gaara. I'd die for him. I'm pretty sure Itachi would do the same for Temari. You haven't been around the two of them as much as I have, but their relationship is a lot deeper than most people think. He's not using her, Ino. He truly does love her."

"He never shows it," Ino said.

"Neither of them is very good with public displays of affection. You never got to witness the looks he gave her, the way he acts around her like I did when we lived together in Suna. He's not the cold heartless person everybody thinks he is." Sakura's face froze in terror.

"What?" Ino asked, concerned.

"Uh…nothing," Sakura answered embarrassed. "I was just reminded of that one time when I…"

"When you what?" Ino prompted.

Sakura turned bright crimson and turned her head away. "I, uh…sorta walked in on them. More than once." Ino busted up laughing. Sakura glared at her. "Yeah. Laugh it up Ino-pig."

"What did you just call me Forehead?" They then proceeded to insult each other until the two babies started crying, and then they each turned their attentions to their own respective child.

* * *

Temari blew out the candles on her cake. Every one clapped and cheered. Itachi served Temari her piece first, then started slicing a whole bunch of other pieces and putting them on plates for the others. The whole time Itachi focus was on what he wanted to do with Temari after the party. He grabbed himself a piece and stalked out of the house. There was way too much bustle for him. He stepped onto the back porch and settled into a chair. 

After a few minutes the door opened and Naruto walked out. "Hey Itachi," he said quietly.

"Hn," Itachi responded.

"I just wanted to tell you that if your brother bothers Temari, I'll be there to protect her."

"I can do it myself," Itachi growled.

Naruto laughed nervously. "Well I'll be there in case you need back-up."

Itachi nodded and Naruto quickly scampered away.

He sat there for a while deep in his thoughts. He was thankful for Naruto's help, even though he would never admit it out loud. He himself was concerned about Sasuke. He knew that his brother was powerful now, probably more powerful than he himself was. And if Sasuke decided to kill Temari so that he could be the first to start restoring the clan, Itachi wasn't sure if he'd be able to stop him. He'd need help, and Naruto was one of those persons who'd never give up, ever. And Naruto liked pretty much everybody, and he'd do anything to save somebody, especially if that person was Temari, Gaara's beloved sister.

* * *

Eventually it started getting dark and Itachi decided to go back inside. The party had thinned out greatly leaving only Naruto, Neji, and Tenten. Temari was taking her presents and putting them where they belonged. Sakura was had already gone to bed because the was totally wiped out because of her day and the fact that Manami had cried all of last night and she couldn't get any sleep. Usually Gaara took care of her when she cried at night since he was used to not sleeping, but with the child sleeping in the same hotel room, the crying had kept her awake too. 

Gaara was sitting around being anti-social like usual, which was what Itachi had been doing, too. Manami was in his arms of course. He wanted Sakura to sleep without disturbances. Kankurou and Mizuko had already left for their hotel room. And Itachi didn't need to think about it to know what the two were up to. Naruto said goodbye to Gaara and turned to leave with Neji and Tenten.

Gaara stood up and walked over to his sister who had just walked into the living room. "Happy Birthday, Temari," he told her quietly.

"Thanks Gaara," she said.

"I'll see you tomorrow then," he said, as he turned to leave. He walked out of the house and closed the door. Itachi stood up and walked over to Temari, wrapping his hands around her from behind, keeping them under her rounded stomach.

He kissed her neck. "Finally, I get to be alone with you," he whispered into her ear. She looked over her shoulder at him. "I want to show you something," he told her then. He grabbed her hand, and started leading her outside.

"Where are we going?" she asked, concerned.

"You'll see," as he picked her up and started leaping through the forest.

"You can't leave the village!" Temari said in exasperation.

He shook his head. "I talked to Tsunade and she's letting me leave to show you this for your birthday."Temari nodded then leaned her head against his chest.

They reached a clearing on the top of a hill. Itachi set her down and sat down in the grass. He gestured for her to do the same so she sat down between his legs, her back against his chest. He gazed up at the stars. "How did you like the party?" he asked her.

"It was so much fun. Thanks for putting it together for me. I was so surprised. I wasn't even expecting anything."

He smiled remembering the look on her face. "That's good. You're brothers were worried that you'd be upset about them putting it together for you."

"Just my brothers?" she asked.

"I didn't want to do it. I just wanted a small personal party. Just family, you know."

Temari smiled. Of course, he'd have wanted something where he wouldn't have been forced to be around other people. Not like he'd spent much time around other people, since about half the time he'd been on the porch all by himself. "You're just anti-social," she said.

"Of course."

"Oh…" Temari said, surprised.

Itachi looked down at her concerned. "What's the matter?"

She looked up at him, smiling. "I just felt one of the babies kick." She grabbed his hand and placed it on her stomach. After a while, he felt a tiny thump against his hand. A big grin spread across his face. He pushed his chest against Temari's back, wrapping his arms above her stomach. He kissed her neck. She groaned. "Itachi…"

He ignored her, pulling out one of her ponytails. He nipped at the back of her neck, sending shivers down her spine. He carefully lifted off her shirt, running his hands sensuously along her back. He kissed her shoulders, and upper back. Temari moaned. "Itachi, you probably shouldn't do this."

He stopped for a moment to tell her, "Just let me give you your birthday present." She stopped complaining after this. She felt him harden against her back, and he growled when she pushed back into him. "Don't…I'm trying to be nice," he said throatily. She backed off then. He was going slow so that he wouldn't hurt the growing children, and neither of them wanted that.

When she could hardly contain herself from the pleasure his arousing back massage was giving her she turned around to face him, kneeling between his legs. "If you want this to be my birthday present, how about you let me do things my way?" He shrugged, and she pushed him back into the ground. She worked down her own pants, and dropped them on the cool grass. She removed his shirt then straddled his stomach. She ran her hand up his abdomen, and then leaning back she moved her hand so that it was sliding down. She slid it under his pants and slipped then down. She flattened herself along him. The bulge of her stomach gave her body the perfect angle for him to enter her, and his member slid inside without either of them trying.

Itachi moaned. It had been awhile since the last time since they both were working really hard to control their hormones. Within the next month, they would have to stop for three months until Temari had the twins. He moved carefully, trying not to push in too deep. Temari was having none of the reserved part so Itachi started going faster. Of course, his resolve to take it easy disappeared and he went as hard as he could. It was probably for the best that he'd let Temari stay on top for this. It probably wouldn't have ended well the other way around.

When both had expended themselves, Temari collapsed on the ground next to him. Itachi pulled her close. He knew he'd have to get her dressed and back to the house, but for now he could just hold her. He looked up at the stars in the sky, marveling at their beauty. But in his mind they faltered in comparison with the kunoichi sleeping in his arms.

**

* * *

**


	8. Love

**Okay, this is the last chapter. I am working on an epilogue to finish off this story. but this is the last actual chapter. So the story about this...I actually wrote the first couple of paragraphs of this chapter first. Yes...it's the original. I just decided I wanted to actually write more of the backstory and it ended up getting huge. But forgive me if the first few paragraphs don't exactly have the same tone as the rest of the story. I changed it some from the original, but I kept the original idea. **

**Update...After mixed feelings with one of the scenes, I rewrote it. Now there is some fighting. So sorry if I don't use all of the newest attacks because I don't really know what they are. So without further ado...the last chapter...**

* * *

"Let go of me, Itachi," the blonde haired woman grumbled as she failed at her attempt to get out of the bed for the third time. She needed to get up and go to the bathroom, but every time she tried to get up, he pulled her back to him. 

He looked up at her groggily, sleep still visible in his black eyes. "What?"

She sighed. At least he wasn't doing it on purpose. "Unless you want pregnant woman pee all over you and this bed, you need to let me go so I can go to the bathroom."

After a moment of thought, he saw through the daze of sleep and realization flashed across his face. He smirked as he released her. "You really ought to control yourself better, Temari," he taunted as she slammed the bathroom door closed. She was obviously angry because she had no reason to slam the door closed. They were married, and the bathroom's layout was in such a way that he couldn't see her from his position on the bed. He sighed. Pregnant woman and their mood swings.

When she finished and walked, well it was more like hobbled, out of the bathroom, he could not only see her glare, but feel it as well. "It's not my fault the babies pushes on my freakin' bladder! Besides, it's your fault! You're the one who got me pregnant in the first place!"

He shrugged, and then folded his hands behind his head. "Sorry," he said in a tone that wasn't the least bit sorry. He knew he would pay for his attitude. And he was right. She growled and leapt at him, landing on him so that she was straddling his stomach. Snatching up her pillow, she commenced thoroughly beating him with it.

He only pretended that her abuse hurt, covering his head with his hands so that she wouldn't see the smirk on his face. The smirk that adorned his face because he had provoked her on purpose. Taking a bit of a beating courtesy of Temari's pillow, he grabbed her wrists, stopping her assault and forcing her to look in his eyes which were full of mock disapproval. "That's not how a woman in your condition should be behaving."

"Hmph," she retorted as she crossed her arms over the spot between her inflated stomach and her swollen breasts. "And what would you know about being a 'woman in my condition', Itachi?" she asked, indignantly.

He stared at her. He knew plenty about the subject, what with all the time he'd dedicated to learning about it. Temari was going to have twins, and he'd taken a whole bunch of his free time (and he had a lot of free time) to study pregnancy and whatnot. He probably knew more than Temari. He could rub it in her face but…she was already angry, and he didn't want to get her really pissed off. He got enjoyment out of an angry Temari, but a pissed off one wreaked havoc on his life.

Instead, he carefully pushed her backwards onto the bed so that he was over her. He leaned in and emotionlessly said, "Absolutely nothing." He ran a hand along the side of her engorged stomach, which was against his lower abdomen. He kissed her mouth, wrapping a hand under her neck to pull her face closer to his. Then he moved to kissing her jaw line and neck.

Temari let herself enjoy her husband's completely out of line behavior. It had been too long since the last time they had shared more than a small peck. Once she had hit the third trimester, Itachi had forbidden himself from out of fear of hurting the babies. And as hard as it had been for her, not having sex must have bothered him to no end. His sexual appetite was voracious.

Oh, she knew the current make-out session would end it before it got too out of hand. But as long as her clothes were still on and his clothes were still on, nothing was going to go too far, so she didn't stop him. After a bit, the child started kicking. Itachi stopped and lifted his head away from her face. "They're strong," Itachi remarked. Temari then realized that he had been feeling the babies' kicks against his own stomach through hers.

He climbed off of her and stood up. Temari sat up and stared after him, pouting. She hadn't wanted him to stop right then. But she decided she ought to get up as well. Pulling on a robe, she walked into the kitchen where Itachi had already started making tea. He poured her a cup and then one for himself. He was making muffins for breakfast, but he had to wait for the oven to preheat before he could put them in the oven so he sat down at the table across from Temari.

"It's crazy how fast time goes," Temari remarked to herself. Itachi gave her a look. She clarified, "It wasn't that long ago when we found out that I was going to have children. And now I'm practically due at any moment." She gestured to her huge stomach.

Itachi nodded. He was very glad that Temari had not had one of those emotional break downs because she thought that he didn't like her anymore because she was pregnant and thought of herself as being fat. He personally thought that pregnant Temari was more attractive than un-pregnant Temari, but he'd never tell her that.

"Oh, do you know when Gaara and the others are going to get here?" Temari asked him, pulling him out of his thoughts.

Itachi shrugged. "Sometime today," he answered. The family was coming because Temari's actual due date was tomorrow. And they all wanted to be there for her because she had always been there for them.

Temari smiled. "Well we should probably clean up some around here."

Itachi sighed. "I don't think they're going to care if the house is a little messy. You're pregnant after all."

Temari glared at him. "But you're not, so you have no excuse for not keeping the house clean," she retorted.

Itachi just looked at her without changing the expression on his face. "Since when did you care about what the house looked like?"

"Watch it you," she snarled.

"Fine," he conceded. "I'll take care of it today." He rolled his eyes. Pregnant Temari was being ridiculous, but it was a lot easier to go with what she said than to fight back.

She smiled. "Thanks. I'll help too." He sighed. She'd just gone to all the trouble to make him say he'd do it himself, and now she was going to help too. Oh, yes…the joys of mood swings.

The oven beeped and Itachi stood up to put in his muffins. He slid the pan into the hot oven, closed the door and set the timer for fifteen minutes. He turned around to see that Temari had left the kitchen and was already working on cleaning the living room. He decided to help her out too while they waited for muffins. So they commenced dusting, sweeping and otherwise organizing the living room.

They had just about finished up when the buzzer went off, signaling that the muffins were done. Itachi went in to get the muffins out while Temari quickly finished sweeping the room. She walked in and took a couple of the blueberry muffins and spread butter on them. She ate them down quickly and reached for two more. Itachi normally have stopped her because he was stickler for keeping her weight at a healthy level. He was not going to take any risks, but since she was due within the week, he didn't really think it mattered too much. So he let her eat them. He only had three himself, leaving leftovers for when Temari got hungry before lunch.

Itachi stood up. "I'm going to take a shower," he announced walking out of the kitchen. Temari nodded and finished her muffins. She looked around at the kitchen, and deciding that the kitchen was more Itachi's domain, she'd leave that cleaning for him. That left their bedroom as the only room left that needed cleaning. The other two bedrooms didn't need attention. The one was being used for storage, and the other was already set up for the twins, so it was clean and organized. The other bathroom wasn't used either so it was clean too, just a little dusty.

Temari finished her muffins and walked into the bedroom. It was probably the worst room because they both completely neglected it. There were a whole bunch of clean and dirty clothes scattered on the floor, along with various other items like books, papers, cups and assorted other things that didn't exactly belong on the bedroom floor. Fortunately most of the laundry was clean, so she'd only have to do one load. Which reminded her that the laundry room would probably need some attention too. So she decided that she'd have Itachi do that.

She took the few clothes that need washed and started the machine. She proceeded to put the clean ones on the bed and fold them. She sang to herself as she worked. After a while, she heard the water turn off, and Itachi walked out of the bathroom in a towel. She couldn't help but stare at him. She loved his gorgeous body.

"Temari, could you please stop ogling me," he asked sarcastically.

She _hmph_ed. "I most certainly will not. You're too much fun to look at."

He shook his head. "If you say so, although I think I've always enjoyed looking at you more." He shot her a lopsided grin.

Temari blushed and looked away from him. When she composed herself several milliseconds later, she told him, "You have to clean the kitchen and laundry room."

He shrugged and pulled on boxers underneath his towel. "Fine." He took off his towel and hung it back up in the bathroom. He pulled on a black pair of pants and a black t-shirt with the Uchiha clan symbol and walked out of the bedroom, heading for the kitchen first. He cleaned it easily enough, washing and putting away the dishes, scrubbing off the counter, cleaning the stop of the stove. He swept the floor and wiped off the table. When he was satisfied with the room, he headed to the laundry room. It was also pretty decent only really needing the trash emptied and the floor swept up. Laundry rooms weren't supposed to be perfect after all.

As he finished up with the room, the washing cycle finished so he put the clothes in the dryer for Temari. He decided to give the other rooms a once over. He peeked in the extra bedroom and decided that it didn't need attention. He looked inside the bathroom and gave it a quick dusting. Finally, he opened to door to the twin's bedroom. He gazed in at it happily. Just a few more days at most and this room would be occupied. He could hardly contain (if you can call coming very close to dropping his mask of indifference around a few other people besides Temari hardly containing) his anticipation for the prospect of having his own children.

He felt something on his arm and looked over to see Temari. "All done?" he asked her. She nodded. "I put the clothes in the dryer for you."

"Thanks," she answered. "I think we should clean outside some too," she suggested casually.

"Why?" he asked. He really didn't want to have to clean anymore.

She shot him a look and he gave in. "Fine, we'll clean outside. But Temari, you really shouldn't push yourself this close to…"

She smiled at him happily while cutting him off. "Don't worry about it. A little manual labor never hurt anyone. Besides, it's not like it's that physically demanding. I'll be fine."

He shrugged in response, as she grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the house. She found a rake and handed it to him, instructing him to rake up the leaves. He took the rake and started working, not saying anything but grumbling about it on the inside. She took a pair of pruning tools and started trimming the bushes by the house.

* * *

"Hey guys!" a familiar voice called. Itachi looked up to see Kankurou and Gaara walking towards him. Her family had arrived. Itachi nodded at them. 

"What are you doing?" Gaara asked upon seeing his sister pruning bushes.

Itachi shrugged. "It was her idea. She forced me into saying that I'd do it, then told me that she was going to help, too. She wouldn't let me tell her no."

Kankurou grinned. "That's just like Temari." Itachi nodded.

Temari had not noticed her sibling's arrival. She was struggling with a high branch, reaching to clip it off, but her rotund stomach prevented her reaching it. After several failed attempts she got angry and started beating the bush with the clippers. "Stupid bush! Why can't you be shorter? You don't want to me to clip you, huh? Well I'll show you!" she shouted at the troublesome bush, continuing to whack it.

Gaara and Kankurou looked at her like she was crazy. They knew that Temari had a short temper, but going ballistic over a bush was a bit much even for her. Itachi simply sighed and called over to her. "Temari, you don't need to get that. Your brothers are here."

At his words, she stopped and turned around. She saw that Itachi was telling the truth and waddled over to greet her brothers. After she'd said her hellos, she asked them, "Where are your wives?"

Gaara simply said, "She had things to take care of before she came."

Temari cocked a brow. "What does that mean?"

"She had to feed Manami. She'll be over in a little bit." Temari nodded at this.

Kankurou added, "And Mizuko decided to wait to come over with her."

Itachi put his hand around her waist. "Do you want me to take care of that stubborn bush for you?" She nodded and handed him the clippers. He took them from her and left her to stand and talk with her brothers.

He was just about finished when someone shouted out his name. "Itachi!"

He turned around to find himself face to face with his little brother. "Sasuke…what are you doing here?"

Sasuke glared at him pulling out his sword. "Killing you," he responded in fury. Itachi quickly jumped back, and realized that he didn't have any kunai on him. It wasn't like he carried them around when he was cleaning the yard with Temari. So he went with want was immediately available, the trimmers in his hand. Sasuke brought his sword down, and Itachi stopped it with a quick flick of his clippers as he jumped back.

His brother's eyes glowed red. Shoot he was going to have to use his Sharingan if he wanted to have a chance in this fight. Itachi figured that Sasuke's eyes were now powerful enough that using Tsukyomi on him would be pointless. This fight would be determined with only ninjutsu and taijustsu "You always take everything away from me. It was my goal to restore the clan. Mine. Meaning not yours," Sasuke screamed in rage as he dove in for another assault. Itachi back flipped out of the way, landing just out of reach of his brother's sword. Itachi activated his Sharingan so it would be easier to read his brother's lightning quick moves.

Sasuke formed the Chidori in his left hand, since it wasn't holding the sword. He charged Itachi. Itachi managed to step out of the way, cracking Sasuke on the base of the neck as he barrelled past. It sent Sasuke sprawling on the ground. Sasuke looked up at his brother and glared, to which Itachi simply stared back apathetically. He stood up, starting another Chidori leaving his sword lying on the ground. Itachi this time used a substitution jutsu, so Sasuke attacked a log (ahem...Sasuke was logged). He went back and grabbed his brother's forgotten sword. Sasuke cursed at him. Since Itachi now had a suitable weapon, he charged his brother.

Sasuke stopped the attack with a kunai. With their weapons locked together, Itachi brought his knee up, in the attempt to hit his brother's stomach or groin. Sasuke leapt out of the way before Itachi could land a hit. But Itach quickly closed in on Sasuke once more. Once again, locked together, Itachi saw a brief flicker of hesitation on his brother's face. And he activated the Mangenkyou Sharingan. Much to his surprise, Sasuke didn't or couldn't counter it, and was trapped in Itachi's kekkei genkai.

When Sasuke stopped screaming five seconds later, he crumpled onto the ground. His beaten form looked up at his brother. "You always take everything away from me," Sasuke told his brother maliciously from his spot on the ground.

Itachi shrugged. "And can you blame me for falling in love before you did and not waiting for you to attain your goal."

Sasuke glared, then angrily told his brother,"Yes, I can and I will blame you. Everything that has gone wrong in my life is your fault. Including this."

Itachi smirked. He was going to rub this in his brother's face since Sasuke was refusing to be rational, especially in his defeat. "Well, I bet you wouldn't even be able to get a woman pregnant," Itachi taunted.

"Prick," Sasuke muttered as he slowly stood up. "You're probably going to have a girl."

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Temari had gotten very angry at his brother's last statement. And she was walking towards them with a deadly gleam in her eye. Oh boy, Sasuke was in for it now. Itachi smirked. "I'm beating you regardless of whether I have a girl or not. You don't have one of either, and I'm getting two, dear brother." He spat the last two words out in contempt.

Sasuke glared at him. He just smirked because Temari was now directly behind Sasuke. She tapped him on the shoulder, he turned his head to look at her, only to catch Temari's super powerful right hook shot square in the nose. _Pwned_! Sasuke crumpled to the ground holding his obviously broken nose which happened to be gushing blood. She kicked him in the ribs, further making him writhe in pain. "Don't you dare insinuate that girls are weak. My daughter is going to have more power in her pinky finger that you ever will. Mark my words _Sasuke_, she will be more powerful than you some day," she spat at him viciously. She gave him another kick for good measure then saunter/hobbled back over to her siblings who had been joined by Sakura, Manami and Mizuko. They were all gaping at Temari and the battered Uchiha who was being looked down on by his smirking older brother.

"Sasuke, you'll never get a girl if you say stupid things like that. Especially not one worthy of restoring the clan with. Only the weak ones will let you talk down to them like that, and weak is not worthy of being a part of our prestigious clan." Itachi turned away from his little brother, dropping the sword beside him, and walked over to his wife.

He hugged her, whispering into her ear, "Good job." Gaara had taken it upon himself to go contain Sasuke using his sand. Kankurou ran off to get Tsunade. He held her close for a while. He could feel her heart pounding. She'd gotten really riled up over the situation. Eventually, he felt her relax in his arms. He was about to loosen his grip when he felt her tense up again. He was going to ask her what was wrong but the wetness he felt along his leg told him exactly what had happened. Her water had broken.

Within seconds Temari had her first contraction. She moaned, squeezing her eyes shut to block out the pain, while grasping her stomach. He continued to hold her. "Let's go," he whispered when the contraction had finally passed. Sakura realized what had happened, and set out to assist them.

"Let's get her to the hospital then," Sakura said. Gaara watched them leave and pieced together the situation fairly easily. Tsunade would be here soon enough, and then he'd go support his sister.

* * *

They easily got Temari into the hospital. Sakura had gone in with Itachi and Temari in case Tsunade had more trouble with Sasuke than any of them were anticipating, leaving Manami with Mizuko. But within half an hour of their arrival, Tsunade was there. Sakura left the room, and went out to the waiting room. Tsunade administered a pain killer to help ease the labor. 

Itachi sat down next to Temari's head, holding her hand and offering support as each contraction racked her body. The last one she'd had had been particularly intense. Perspiration wet her skin and hair. Tsunade stood watching the passageway expand. "You're just about fully dilated," Tsunade told her.

Another contraction swept over Temari's body. Itachi firmly held on to her hand. When this one passed, Tsunade nodded, saying, "Okay, you're ready. Push for me." Temari did. She constricted all of her muscles as tightly as she could and pushed. She felt pain tear though her as her opening expanded further than she thought possible. She stopped and took a breath. Tsunade instructed her to push again. She did, this time the pain so much that she screamed.

Itachi just stayed silent holding her hand. He wasn't about to get berated about how her pain was all his fault, not when he was already blaming himself for it. Her grip on his hand tightened considerably as the pushed. Tsunade told her to breath. So she took a gasping breath and continued pushing. She wanted the pain over with as quickly as possible.

Temari felt some of the pressure alleviate as she felt something slid out of her. That something immediately started screaming. "A girl," Tsunade said as she handed the child to Shizune, who wrapped her in a cloth and handed her to Itachi. "Alright," Tsunade said to Temari, "You're more than halfway done now." Temari nodded as she felt another contraction seize her. "Good, you can push now, Temari."

Itachi only half paid attention to what was going on. He was gazing down at the child in his arms. His daughter. A rush of emotion he wasn't expecting overtook him. He realized at this moment that she was more important to him than anything. He loved the girl even more than the love he had for her mother because this child was truly a part of him.

Her skin was a reddish color, and the first thing that popped into his head was Akane (it means deep red) because of the skin color. He also recalled what Temari had said about how their daughter would be more powerful than Sasuke. And to be more powerful than Sasuke, her Sharingan would have to be more powerful than his. "You're Akane," he whispered to her, as Temari finally gave birth to the second child.

"A boy," Tsunade said. Temari fell back on the bed exhausted. She looked over to Itachi and gave him a weak smile. He handed her the girl and Shizune placed in her other arm the boy.

"I think the girl should be called Akane," Itachi told her quietly.

Temari nodded her approval. "He will be Raiden," she said.

Itachi had no qualms about it, so he nodded. Shizune interrupted by saying, "We need to get a few measurements of the babies. Length, weight, and do an examination. We'll have them back pretty fast. Temari, try to rest please. We'll give you a look over once we come back." Temari nodded and leaned her head back. She knew that she was exhausted. Labor had been the most painful and tiring thing she had ever been through. All she wanted to do right now was sleep. And that is precisely what she did.

Itachi sat by her side staring at her in wonder. He felt bad about being the cause of the pain; he was the one who got her pregnant in the first place. But she looked so peaceful and serene at the moment. Never in his life had he been more proud of anyone. Shizune walked back in and handed Itachi both of the children. They started crying which woke up Temari. Shizune performed a medical examination and found that there had been no complications during the labor. Temari was perfectly healthy, and she would be going home tomorrow morning.

Itachi handed Akane to Temari, who she immediately held to her breast for the child to nurse. That left Itachi to hold his son gently, looking down at the boy. The same emotions as when he'd held his daughter for the first time erupted out of him when he gazed at his son. He felt himself be overwhelmed by this surge of foreign and powerful emotions. And he had never in his life felt the happiness he felt at this moment. A tear of joy fell down his face, and he quickly wiped it away. He wasn't going to cry. The great Uchiha Itachi was not going to cry at the birth of his children, no matter how much his insides wanted to.

Temari had finished with Akane and was now going to switch and nurse Raiden. Itachi placed the boy in Temari's free arm as he lifted Akane with his free arm. He sat back down in the chair holding her. He held her against his chest, gently tapping her back to make her burp. Eventually he heard a microscopic _hic_ come from her. When he looked down at her face, he could see that she was fast asleep.

Temari finished up with Raiden and went through the same process of burping him. She looked over at Itachi with tears of joy streaming down her face. "I don't think I've ever been this happy," she told him a blissful look on her face.

"I don't think I have either." He glanced down at Raiden. "He fell asleep, too," Itachi stated to Temari.

She nodded. "You know Itachi—," she was interrupted by the door opening and Sakura, Manami, Gaara, Kankurou and Mizuko entering the little room.

Mizuko looked at the two of them, each holding their own baby and _awe_d. Kankurou wrapped an arm around his wife's hip and pulled her closer to him. He leaned over and whispered something in her ear. She blushed and said, "Sure, we'll get on that as soon as we get home."

Gaara shot the two a look, saying that he understood what they were whispering about (aka making their own baby), and that they better stop or else. Sakura carried Manami over to the bed and touched her daughter's nose. "See Manami," she cooed, "now you've got cousins. You'll have lots of fun with them."

Temari smiled up at her. "Hey Sakura," she greeted.

Sakura gave her a concerned look. "Did everything go alright? I know how difficult it was for me."

Temari shrugged. "It was painful, yes, but Itachi being here made everything so much better."

Sakura looked surprised, and then Gaara asked Itachi, "She didn't curse you for living or putting her through this or anything?"

Itachi shook his head. "Wow," Sakura mused. "I thought you'd have gotten the worst labor bashing ever."

They left that topic and they all looked carefully at the sleeping forms of Akane and Raiden. They congratulated the parents and headed home, knowing that they would want some time to themselves. When they'd left Itachi put a hand on Temari's. "Temari, I love you. I don't tell that to you enough. And I'm sorry for causing you pain. I felt so terrible watching you struggle giving birth."

She looked over at him. "You're being silly, Itachi. You don't need to apologize for it. It's the way things are. And I'm so much happier after going through it now, than I had ever been in the past."

"Thank you," he said, lowering his head. She reached over and touched his leg.

"Itachi, I'm so glad that I experienced this with you. I know our relationship was a little forced in the beginning, but there's no one else who I'd rather be with. I love you, more than anyone else. Well except for these two. Aren't they absolutely adorable?" She looked down at the sleeping baby in her arms. Itachi did the same thing. The peacefully sleeping twins were really cute, even he would admit that.

He smiled up at her. "They will be the best little Uchiha's that ever existed," he said slightly sarcastically.

She smirked at him. "Only because I'm their mother. Without me in this equation, they wouldn't have been nearly as good."

Itachi stood up carefully, making sure not to disturb Akane's peaceful slumber. He bent over and kissed Temari full on the lips. "That's exactly why they'll be the best," he said, when he pulled away.

She smiled at him. "I love you, Uchiha Itachi."

He sat back down. "And I love you, Uchiha Temari."

She leaned back, a smile adorning her face. Her family was finally complete and she couldn't feel any happier than she did at this moment. She was with the three people she loved the most in the world, her husband and her kids. What more could she possibly ask for?

* * *

Several days later, the two of them were adjusting to life taking care of babies. They had to wake up at all kinds of obscure hours, to feed them. Temari had decided that there was no possible way for her to nurse two so they had opted to split down the middle between bottle feeding and breast feeding. So whenever it was bottle feeing rotation, Itachi would take care of it. Temari, of course, took care of the breast feeding. 

One day Hinata walked into their house extremely flustered. "I-I'm m-marrying y-your b-brother, I-Itachi," stutter announced upon arrival. Both Itachi and Temari looked at her like she was crazy.

"You're doing WHAT?!" Temari demanded.

At that point, Hanabi, Hinata's little sister, walked into the house. "Apparently Tsunade thinks that if she marries Sasuke off, then he'll calm down some. She's trying to do the same thing that you did, Itachi, only it's more forced on the both of them," she explained.

"Wow," Itachi stated. "So you really are marrying him?"

Hinata nodded. And that was when Sasuke walked into the house. Itachi and Temari both got really tense in case he tried anything funny. "There you are Hinata," he said. He treated Itachi indifferently.

Temari looked at him like he was crazy. "What are you doing Sasuke?"

He shrugged. "I needed to find Hinata. Oh, and by the way, you don't need to worry about me seeking revenge anymore." He cast gaze full of longing at Hinata. Temari and Itachi both caught the look and looked at each other knowing full well that Sasuke had arranged the marriage exactly in the manner Itachi had with Gaara. Sasuke looked like a love sick puppy.

Exactly at that moment, Akane and Raiden both started crying. Hinata volunteered to go with Temari to get them. So the two of them made their way to the cribs. Temari picked up Akane, leaving Raiden for Hinata. "Hinata?" She asked. The Hyuuga looked at her. "You do realize that Sasuke does really like you?"

She nodded. She whispered to Temari without a stutter, "He doesn't stop looking at me. And he doesn't leave me alone."

Temari smiled remembering how Itachi had done the same thing with her. "Don't keep him waiting too long, okay? You won't regret you're relationship. Trust me. Once you get under the cold exterior of an Uchiha, you've found the most wonderful person imaginable."

Hinata nodded and smiled, thanking her in the silent way that she did things. They carried the babies out into the living room. At this point Sasuke asked, "Uh…would it be okay if I um…held one of them?"

Temari didn't even think about it. She'd seen the way Sasuke's eyes had softened when he looked at Hinata. She knew that he'd changed in some sort of significant way. So she handed him Akane. Sasuke took the girl in his arms. He looked down at her. "I think you were right, Temari. I think she does have the potential to surpass me," Sasuke said. "You can see it when you look into her eyes. You can already see traces of the Sharingan forming in her eyes."

He looked down at the small girl for a few more seconds. He handed her back to Temari. "I'll see you around later then," he said as he left the house. Hinata and Hanabi stayed for a while longer, Hinata sort of complaining about having to marry Sasuke, but still admitting that she wasn't totally dreading it. Naruto had never noticed her, so it was finally nice to have someone…

She and her sister eventually left. It was about eight thirty. Akane had just fallen asleep and Raiden was quickly approaching that stage. They put them in their cribs and then headed to their own bed. Itachi stripped down to his boxers and climbed into bed. Temari pulled on a nightshirt and got into bed next to him. He wrapped an arm around her waist. He kissed the back of her neck. "So," he said as his hot breath tickled her neck, "when do you want to start working on the next one?"

Temari turned around and kissed him, her tiredness instantly disappearing. "Right now would be good…"

When they had finished, Temari fell asleep quickly. Itachi stood up and walked in to look on the babies. They were both sleeping soundly. He just watched them for awhile, but eventually he got back into bed with Temari. He put his arms around her waist and she snuggled against him. He whispered into her ear. "I love you, Temari." And then he drifted off to sleep, feeling like the most loved man in the world.

* * *

**So...I'll get the epilogue up soon. It's going to take place quite a few years later, so be ready for some really random stuff to make it's way out of my head. Because allowing me to play with the future results in it getting really obscure (at least it usually does). But seriously, it'll focus mostly on Akane, Raiden, Manami, and Ren (the son of Ino and Shika). And I might just give Sasuke and Hinata a few kids along with Kankurou and Mizuko, but allowing myself to create characters results in a very obscure future...**

**Anyways, leave me reviews...and if there's anything you want answered, ask it and I'll try to answer it in the epilogue.**


	9. Epilogue

**Since I've decided that I'm actually going to do a sequel, the epilogue is pretty short. It pretty much wraps up everything. Thanks for sticking with me. Hope you read the sequel.**

* * *

Sitting in the crowded building was not working for the two month old twins. They were being fussy, and Temari hated it when they were fussy in public. Especially when this public event was her brother-in-law's wedding.

Temari picked Akane up from her carrier and rocked her back and forth, trying to prevent her from crying. Itachi followed suit, picking up Raiden. Eventually Temari pulled out a bottle for each of them so that the process of feeding would keep their mouths occupied and then they wouldn't cry.

Fortunately the ceremony went quickly and soon they were all filing out of the building, headed towards the reception hall. It was a cold day so Temari put a winter outfit (you know, the full body kind) on each of the babies before placing them in their respective carriers and covering them with a thick blanket. Itachi grabbed a carrier and they proceeded out the door, Itachi's arm wrapped around Temari's waist. She pressed against him as they walked, mostly because it was too cold outside for what she was wearing and secondly, because she liked being close to Itachi. But she really only was doing it because she was cold.

They arrived at the reception hall, which happened to be the event hall at the Hyuuga complex. They were served food by random members of the Hyuuga clan. Fortunately after feeding the twins, they'd fallen asleep so Temari didn't have to worry about them too much. "Itachi," she stated, "We never had our second wedding."

He leaned over. "How about we count this as it? We'll just exchange vows right here and pretend like the ceremony's for us."

Temari nodded. "Uchiha Itachi, I love you with every fiber of my being and will be your wife for eternity, no matter what the circumstances. Will you have me for eternity?"

"I will," he whispered to her. "And Uchiha Temari, every morning I wake up, I feel blessed to have you in my life, to be able to see your beauty and have you beside me. You unlocked my heart. Will you hold the key forever?"

She leaned over and kissed him full on the lips. She pulled back and smiled. "Of course." She kissed him again. The music started to play, signaling for the first dance between the newly-weds. Hinata and Sasuke danced holding each other closely, lovingly. They were whispering into each other's ears, smiling.

Itachi smiled at his brother's happiness. He never imagined that they would be okay with each other. He thought for the rest of his life, Sasuke'd want to kill him. But Sasuke's falling head over heels in love with Hinata had drastically changed his brother's outlook on life. He'd accepted Itachi, maybe not exactly forgiven him, but given up his search for vengeance.

Since Sasuke's mom was dead, Hinata, not to make him feel bad, had decided to skip dancing with her father. Not like she was very close to him and minded in any way. After Hinata and Sasuke had finished dancing, everybody joined in the party. Itachi and Temari took turns watching the twins while the other went off to socialize.

Another slow song played. Sakura offered to take Akane and Raiden off of the hands so that they could share a dance. Temari and Itachi thanked her and proceeded hand-in-hand onto the dance floor. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close. She wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled at him. Swaying back and forth to the music, Temari rested her head against his chest. He set his chin down on her head.

They danced that way for a while, neither one saying anything. They had gone through quite a few songs like that and the tempo of the music was no longer slow. They ignored it. Temari looked up at him. He kissed her. Pulling back and propping his forehead against hers, he let out a sigh, his breath tickling her cheeks. "I love you, Temari," he whispered.

She gently stroked his cheek. "I don't regret anything. I love you, Itachi."

* * *

**A short epilogue, I know, but everything I originally planned on including is in the sequel. If you have any questions you want me to answer in the sequel let me know. I'm sure there are details that I forgot to include. What can I say? I'm a human.**


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